Franzoni, von Allmen, Paris / GEPA pictures
BORMIO, Italy — Saturday was not only a bluebird day in Bormio, it was also a blue-ribbon day for the Azzurri in the men’s Olympic downhill. Giovanni Franzoni and Dominik Paris delivered silver and bronze for the host nation, finishing 0.20 and 0.50 seconds, respectively, behind Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen, on Alpine skiing’s Day 1 of the Milano-Cortina Games.
The teammates not only captured Italy’s first Olympic medals in men’s downhill since Christof Innerhofer’s silver in 2014 — but their double success also marked the first time in history that two Italian men had shared a podium in downhill at the Olympics.
Notably, it was the smallest men’s downhill field in Olympic history, featuring only 36 athletes.
Franzoni shines in Olympic debut
“The Stelvio requires a lot of skills,” Paris explained. “It’s one of the most dangerous slopes on the circuit. Being here for the first time for an Olympic race, maybe it’s not for every athlete.”
Franzoni, however, had no trouble in his Olympic debut. The 24-year-old had just won the Kitzbuehel downhill two weeks earlier.
When Franzoni started with bib No. 11, he was trying to catch von Allmen’s 1:51.61 and assume the lead.
“At the start, I was thinking about trying to find speed in every turn,” he said. “After Canalino Sertorelli, I had a moment where I thought, ‘Okay, right now I’m racing.’ I tried to ski this technical part in the middle well, and I did.”
The crowd saw his split and suddenly, erupted.
“After the Carcentina, I did a mistake during the training. I was thinking about that also. Maybe I was too early. After the San Pietro jump, I was thinking about my legs. I was tired and I tried to push myself to the limit to make the difference in the last part. I did, but not enough for the gold.”
Paris completes the circle
Paris was next, wearing bib No. 12.
The veteran immediately thrilled the packed stands with the fastest opening split. “I know what I had to do at the top; it’s my section,” he explained. “The technical part was for me more critical, but I had a good line. I had a good feeling. I had good confidence at the entrance of Carcentina and maybe I was a bit too aggressive and it cost me some speed. Still, all good. At the bottom, I was fighting and maybe I was not quite on the right line, so I lost some speed. It’s close but I was not enough for Franjo, but I’m super happy that it’s for third place. It’s close enough.”
At 36, Paris bumped Marco Odermatt off the podium by two hundredths of a second to steal the bronze and claim his first Olympic medal in his fifth Games.
“If you had told me four years ago that I would have been part of this, I wouldn’t have believed it,” Paris said. After his 2020 ACL surgery, he said, “I was not so confident anymore, but in the last two years, I was able to regain my strength and ski well again. This season, I knew I would have the chance to earn an Olympic medal. Of course, I didn’t take it as a given that I would win here, especially at my age. But we all knew it was my last chance to win here.”
“This is the closing of the circle,” Paris said. “I have managed to achieve all the results that I wanted to achieve, and I’ve done even more than I expected of myself. This was the last missing piece of the puzzle and it has a huge value for me today. I’m glad to know that it has immense value for my supporters, too. Everybody told me you deserve this. I wasn’t so sure about that, but in the end, there I am with my bronze medal and I’m very glad about it.”
Passing the torch
Franzoni hopes to carry Paris’ legacy forward and credited his teammate for his recent success. “In Val Gardena last year, we were together for one hour,” Franzoni recalled. Since then, he continued, “we have exchanged ideas during training. He’s always given me the right advice — because, you know, trainers can tell you a lot, but the feeling and knowing how to tackle a certain passage? He knows what to do. Of course, we have two different ways of skiing, but all that he taught me was really important because that’s how I managed to make a big quality jump. I would like to thank him a lot for that.”
About the Author: Aimee Berg
