When the Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen first broke through in the junior ranks, his village butcher created a special sausage – the Silberblitz-Wurscht or Silver Lightning – in his honour. After his stunning performance in the men’s downhill on Saturday, it is surely time for an upgrade.
On a beautiful day in Bormio, the 24-year-old dominated a challenging course to win in 1:min 51.61sec and take the first medal of these Olympic Games. That time was good enough to withstand Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni, who finished with the silver medal 0.20sec back. Another Italian, Dominik Paris, who is vocalist of a heavy metal band called Rise of Voltage, claimed bronze.
“It feels like a movie, not really real,” Von Allmen said. “I can’t tell you what it means to me. For now, can you imagine doing better at the Olympics?”
When asked about the secret to his success he said: “Try to enjoy skiing, really,. I was relaxed in the morning and tried to keep the good feelings from the training, tried to fit all the pieces together from the training and just have fun.”
Von Allmen, who became the youngest downhill world champion in 36 years last year, has done it the hard way. At 17, his father died and he had to crowdfund in order to continue skiing, before making the Swiss squad a year later.
Unlike other racers who attend ski academies, he had to work, in his case on construction sites, in the summer. That experience not only helped his wallet, but built his physique and his character. “I had to go the extra mile and that shaped me,” he said.
Franzoni, who took silver, praised von Allmen. “To share the podium with Franjo after the junior world championships, he’s such a great guy.”
The Italian was happy with his performance. “It’s such an amazing feeling,” he said. “This morning I was pretty calm, but at the start I was becoming so nervous. The Italian people gave me a great message, with passion, with love. It gave me great energy to produce a great run.”
Paris was stunned after winning an Olympic Games medal at the fifth attempt. “I don’t have feelings at the moment,” he said. “Maybe when the prize ceremony starts that will change and I will understand what’s happened to me.”
The pre-Games favouritem Marco Odermatt, of Switzerland, could only finish fourth, 0.70sec back from his gold-winning compatriot. “A disappointing race for me, but the feeling was actually good,” he said. “I skied like I wanted, but it was not fast enough.”
But this day was about Von Allmen. According to his teammates, he is a likable guy who snores louder than anyone. But on Saturday, he made his biggest noise on the slopes.
