Alpine skiing-Swiss downhill champion von Allmen almost quit aged 17

BORMIO, Italy, Feb 7 - It took only one try for 24-year-old Franjo von Allmen to claim Olympic gold in the men's Alpine skiing downhill on Saturday as he eclipsed Swiss great and teammate Marco Odermatt.

He made it look easy on the daunting Stelvio slope, but the path to gold has been far from smooth.

After the tragic loss of his father when he was 17, his burgeoning career was almost stalled by a lack of funding.

A trained carpenter, he turned to crowdfunding, allowing him to continue for one more season and it paid off. He was picked up by the Swiss team for the next.

Von Allmen’s World Cup debut came in 2023. It was not until recently, however, that he started giving world number one and friend Odermatt a run for his money.

'FEELS LIKE A MOVIE'

After achieving his first World Cup victory in the super-G in January 2025, he made the world sit up and take notice a month later when he won the downhill world title aged 23.

A week before the Milano Cortina Games von Allmen laid down his Olympic credentials in Crans Montana by beating 28-year-old Odermatt, who was fourth in an uncanny resemblance to Saturday's race.

Crowds chanted "Franjo", after his stellar Olympic run.

With cowbells ringing, Swiss flags swinging and the sun shining, von Allmen turned to the crowd, lifting his skis with a grin. It stayed on his face as the most elite of men's skiers failed to touch his time. He beat Odermatt by a whopping 0.70 seconds.

"Feels kind of like a movie, not really real," von Allmen said.

He said only once the race had finished did he start thinking about the hard work that got him there.

"It's incredibly beautiful, and also the thought of your team, your family, that have supported you for so long and helped you on your way here," he said in a press conference.

"Right now this medal is just an honour for me to be here."

CARPENTRY BACK-UP PLAN

Considered one of the world’s toughest slopes, thanks to its steep and unforgiving nature, von Allmen had said on Wednesday after the men's first training run in Bormio: “There's something nerve-wracking about the slope."

“It's a bit of a hate-love story,” he added of the Stelvio.

The day before the race von Allmen tipped 36-year-old Italian Dominik Paris for gold, on account of the Stelvio king's record six downhill World Cup wins on the course.

But it turned out to be a love story for the young Swiss prince who produced a run like an old master.

Paris finished third behind his 24-year-old teammate Giovanni Franzoni.

For von Allmen, the tough times after the loss of his father are something he does not want to dwell on now.

"I'd rather try to concentrate on what is still to come," he said in the press conference.

He said he was also glad to still have his carpentry career in his back pocket. "I have a back-up plan if something doesn't work out in sports. I mean, it can be over so quickly, or you can get some kind of injury, which ultimately leads to no longer being able to do your sport," he said.

For now, he is soaking up his win.

"I'm doing what I love," he said. "I'm trying to enjoy it." REUTERS