Gold in the downhill for Franjo von Allmen, Austrian beaten

The best skier today Marco Odermatt came fourth and missed out on the medals just like the Austrians. Vincent Kriechmayr finished sixth, 0.77 seconds behind. The Upper Austrian was 27 hundredths short of bronze. Daniel Hemetsberger came in seventh place (+0.97). Raphael Haaser (+1.89) didn’t make it into the top ten either Stefan Babinsky (+3,12).

The highlight of the games right at the beginning

The men’s downhill run at the Winter Games is like the 100-meter final at the Summer Games. The first medal decision at these games was the most important (from an Austrian perspective).

The legendary Pista Stelvio presented itself in excellent condition in beautiful weather in Bormio. “It’s crazy up there, it’s crazy!” groaned ORF-camera runner Joachim Puchner during his ride on the technically challenging slope. “The victory here goes to a brave and crazy person.”

Hemetsberger still with a swollen eye

Right away with start number 1 Daniel Hemetsberger shouted from the starting house. A good omen? picked up in 1992 Patrick Ortlieb also with number 1 Olympic gold. After his fall in training, Hemetsberger looked like a boxer. A boxer who lost the fight. Broken nose, black eye. But literally nothing is more dangerous than an ailing boxer. Hemetsberger drove aggressively and courageously. He set the first time with 1:52.58. “You have to be realistic. After what happened, I have to be happy that I was able to drive,” said Hemetsberger. “The eyes were still a little swollen shut, I tried everything, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.”

Only the first Swiss, Alexis Monney, pushed Hemetsberger out of the leader’s seat. After that, Marco Odermatt was five hundredths faster. But then Franjo von Allmen came. The 24-year-old downhill world champion drove furiously, the speed measurement showed 149 km/h and the jump was 53 meters. With 1:51.61 he smashed Odermatt’s time.

Kriechmayr good, but not good enough

Vincent Kriechmayr was able to keep up with von Allmen in the upper part of the route. He lost time at the bottom and at the finish he saw the number flashing that you definitely don’t want to see: 4! “It was okay except for a few little things, but I lost a lot of time in the traverse,” said Kriechmayr. “It’s a shame, I wanted to do more. In the end it wasn’t enough.”

Kitzbühel winner Giovanni Franzoni came within two tenths of a second of Von Allmen. Then Dominik Paris, who had already won six World Cup races in Bormio, pushed Marco Odermatt off the podium.