2026 Winter Olympics: Franjo von Allmen wins first gold medal of the Games in downhill

The Swiss skiers took all three podium places before the Italians entered the starting gate, with Franzoni and Paris beating Alexis Moni and then Odermatt with impressive performances in sunny Bormio.

Paris is viewed as the king of this course, having won seven World Cup titles in both downhill and super-G, and won his first Olympic medal in his fifth Games.

“Getting the first medal in front of the home crowd, this is really special,” he said.

But for the Italians, their medal success comes in an emotionally difficult season, five months after teammate Matteo Franzoso died in a training accident.

Franzoso suffered a head injury in a collision with a fence in La Parva, Chile, in September.

And last month, after winning World Cup gold in the prestigious Kitzbühel, Franzoni said he raced Franzoso “in his mind” after the two shared a room on the course a year ago.

“To share the stage with Franjo, then [doing so at] World Junior Championship [in 2022]”He’s a great guy,” Franzoni said.

“Also with Domi, I really wanted to share the podium with him. I don’t know if he will continue racing next year but this is the biggest stage to share.”

When he was young, Franzoni used to compete against Jannik Sinner, who was an outstanding skater before pursuing tennis.

In fact, Sinner, now a four-time Grand Slam champion, once beat Franzoni in 2009, something he became aware of after the latter won the super-G tournament in Wengen earlier this year.

Sinner followed Franzoni on social media and the pair have since struck up a friendship.

“Receiving a message from a champion like him gave me a lot of motivation,” Franzoni said after his win in Kitzbühel.

“I thought, if he writes to me, it means I’m doing something right.” It was a really nice thing for me.”