Swiss Joy as Von Allmen Wins First Gold of Winter Olympics

AFP/APP

Minlan: Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen claimed the first gold medal of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics on Saturday, blasting to victory in the men’s downhill, while skating sensation Ilia Malinin made his long-awaited Olympic debut.

After a glittering opening ceremony in Milan and venues across the Italian Alps on Friday, attention turned to the most prestigious alpine skiing event at Bormio.

In bright sunshine, reigning world champion Von Allmen mastered the fearsome Stelvio course, as his Swiss teammate and pre-race favourite Marco Odermatt could only manage fourth place.

The 24-year-old denied the host nation a first gold by finishing ahead of Italian duo Giovanni Franzoni and Dominik Paris.

“At the moment it feels like a movie,” a grinning Von Allmen said.

Meanwhile, American ski legend Lindsey Vonn will chase an unlikely Olympic medal in the women’s downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo on Sunday. The 41-year-old again defied a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament to complete her second training run.

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Figure skating star Ilia Malinin also took to the ice for the first time at the Olympics but was overshadowed by Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama, who led the men’s short programme in the team event to keep pressure on defending champions United States.

The 21-year-old Malinin, a two-time world champion, was below his best in his medley from The Lost Crown video game but thrilled the crowd with a backflip.

“I’m pretty happy with what I did because that’s only 50 percent of my full potential,” Malinin said.

“I wasn’t expecting to go out here and win — that was not my goal for the team event.

I just felt excited to be here. Come on, it’s the Olympics!”

The team figure skating competition concludes on Sunday following the free skating finals.

Earlier, speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida delivered an emotional first gold medal for host nation Italy on her 35th birthday.

Lollobrigida, distantly related to late Italian film icon Gina Lollobrigida, shattered the Olympic record in the women’s 3,000 metres with a time of 3 minutes 54.28 seconds.

Once her victory was confirmed, she scooped up her young son Tommaso after a volunteer sprinted across the arena to deliver him into her arms.