SAALBACH, Austria – Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen claimed men’s downhill gold at the Alpine World Ski Championships in Saalbach, with compatriot Alexis Monney clinching bronze and defending champion Marco Odermatt finishing fifth.
The 23-year-old revelation of the season, who last month celebrated his first World Cup victory in the super-G in Wengen, completed his run in one minute and 40.68 seconds to clinch his first medal in a major event.
Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr – a two-time world medallist – had to settle for a silver, finishing 0.24 seconds behind.
Alice Padilha, meanwhile, has secured a place for Brazil in alpine skiing at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, marking the South American nation’s return to the women’s category after a 12-year absence.
“I wasn’t nervous, I was really happy to ski here, the slope was great,” said a smiling Von Allmen.
“It was a run really on the limits but at the end it went really well… I tried to feel no pressure, I had nothing to lose, just try to perform,” Von Allmen added according to Reuters.
Von Allmen, a triple silver medallist at 2022 Alpine Junior World Ski Championships, was 0.31 seconds faster than Monney.
The Swiss duo increased the medal tally for their country to four, level with hosts Austria. “It’s amazing, one day it’s Odermatt, the other day two other athletes from the Swiss team. It’s really fun that we can push each other like this,” Von Allmen noted.
The 2023 champion Odermatt, who added men’s super-G gold to his career collection, finished fifth.
“It was a tight race,” Odermatt said. “I knew I had to take the risk today, I really did. I could ski, full gas, but I certainly did two, three mistakes and that, on a downhill like here, you cannot win.”
The 2022 Olympic gold medallist Odermatt, 27, praised his younger teammates for their brilliant performance.
“(They) did an incredible job. If I don’t win, they do, so that’s good,” he said.
“(Von Allmen) is a crazy guy. He doesn’t think much. He just goes all the way full speed and, if everything goes well like today, he can win every race. He’s going to be a big rival for the future.”
Take it from Odermatt, the already established star of the Swiss team who took gold in super-G two days earlier and placed fifth this time. “He can win every race,” Odermatt said.
Von Allmen trailed Kriechmayr at the penultimate checkpoint on the Schneekristall (snow crystal) course before accelerating through the last gates and soaring 52.5 yards (48 meters) – more than half the length of a football field – off the final jump.
Von Allmen finished 0.24 seconds ahead of silver medalist Kriechymayr and 0.31 ahead of bronze medalist Alexis Monney, another rising Swiss racer.
“It´s crazy,” Von Allmen said as the Swiss fans in the crowd took over with their chants of “Hopp Suisse” (Go Switzerland).
“One day it´s Odermatt, the other day two other athletes from the Swiss team. It´s really fun we can push each other like this. It´s pretty, pretty cool.”
During the podium ceremony, Von Allmen was named the “Weltmeister” (world champion) by Austrian downhilling great Franz Klammer, the 1976 Olympic champion.
The host country surely would have preferred to have Klammer awarding an Austrian skier. But Switzerland has dominated the downhills on the World Cup circuit all season, with four wins and five second places in five events.
“(Odermatt) is always telling us which line he´s going to take. We´re exchanging a lot in our team and maybe that´s also why it´s working so well,” Monney said.
While Von Allmen has yet to win a World Cup downhill, he did finish runner-up three times this season. He also won a super-G on home snow in Wengen last month.
“We knew he´s good but maybe not this good,” said Stefan Rogentin, another Swiss racer.
