Milano-Cortina alpine downhill champion
Second straight Swiss winner after Feuz in Beijing
Italy takes silver and bronze, top star Odermatt finishes fourth
Swiss alpine skier Almen Franyo has become the first gold medalist of the Winter Olympics.
On the 7th (local time), he won the men's downhill at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics with a time of 1 minute 51.61 seconds at the Stelvio Ski Center in Bormio, Italy. Born in 2001, Franyo crowned his very first Olympic race with gold. Following Beat Feuz's victory at the 2022 Beijing Games, a Swiss skier has reached the top for the second consecutive time.
Von Almen Franjo is beaming as he holds his gold medal after finishing first in the men's downhill at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bormio (Italy)=EPA Yonhap
Franyo has been competing in the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) World Cup since 2023. He claimed four wins in World Cup downhill races last year and this year, and he also captured the title at the Alpine World Ski Championships held in Saalbach, Austria, in February last year. On the 1st, he showcased his excellent form by taking first place at the Crans-Montana event in Switzerland, the last World Cup downhill race before these Olympics, and he carried that momentum into the Olympic Games.
Host nation Italy saw Giovanni Franzoni take the silver medal with 1 minute 51.81 seconds, while Dominik Paris claimed the bronze with 1 minute 52.11 seconds. Marco Odermatt of Switzerland, who leads the overall men's World Cup standings, finished fourth with a time of 1 minute 52.31 seconds.
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