The Swiss Franjo von Allmen won the downhill on Saturday, the premier event of alpine skiing, thus becoming the first Olympic champion of the Milan-Cortina Games. During the day, gold medals were awarded to Norway, Japan, Sweden and Italy.
Published on: 02/07/2026 - 1:39 p.m.
The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympic Games delivered their first medals on Saturday February 7 the day after the opening ceremony. Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen became the first Olympic champion of the Milan-Cortina Games by winning the downhill, the premier event of alpine skiing, on La Stelvio in Bormio.
Already reigning world champion in the discipline, von Allmen, 24, beat the Italians Giovanni Franzoni and Dominik Paris, while Marco Odermatt failed to reach the podium. Best Frenchman, Nils Allègre is 8th.
Starting from bib 8 under a still blue sky, Franjo von Allmen cut the demanding Stelvio from top to bottom to leave no chance to his rivals.
With a lead of 70 hundredths over Marco Odermatt who started just before him, the 24-year-old Swiss, who is taking part in his first Games, quickly understood that he had just made a big move and allowed himself to raise his arms, skis in hands, in front of the Swiss public present en masse in the Italian stands.
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Four more gold medals
In the 3,000 meter speed skating event, Francesca Lollobrigida pocketed Italy's first gold medal of these Games. On her 35th birthday, she beat Norwegian Ragne Wiklund and Canadian Valérie Maltais, establishing a new Olympic record in 3 min 54 sec 28.
Kira Kimura became Olympic big air snowboard champion thanks to two spectacular tricks. With a cumulative score of 179.50, obtained thanks to his first and third jump, the Japanese was well ahead of his compatriot Ryoma Kimata (171.5). The Chinese Yiming Su, Olympic champion in Beijing in 2022, completes the podium (168.5). Kira Kimura gives Japan its first gold medal of the fortnight.
The Norwegian Anna Odine Stroem won the first ski jumping event of the 2026 Olympics, on a small hill, ahead of the Slovenian prodigy Nika Prevc and the Japanese Nozomi Maruyama. Olympic champion for the first time at the age of 27, Anna Odine Stroem was ahead with a total of 267.3 points Prevc (266.2 pts) and Maruyama (261.8 pts).
The Swedes achieved a double in the first cross-country skiing event of the 2026 Olympics, the skiathlon, won by Frida Karlsson ahead of her compatriot Ebba Andersson, Saturday in Tesero. Olympic champion for the first time in her career, Frida Karlsson, 26, won with more than 50 seconds ahead of Ebba Andersson.
With AFP and Reuters
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