Sawt Falasteen - Sausages will sell after thrill-seeker Von Allmen wins Olympic downhill

Von Allmen, 24, claimed the first gold on offer at the Milan-Cortina Games when he stormed to victory in Saturday's downhill race, one of the prestige events at any Winter Olympics.

He outpaced Italy's Giovanni Franzoni and Dominik Paris and overshadowed his in-form Swiss teammate Marco Odermatt.

But the result did not come as a total surprise.

Now 24, the baby-faced Von Allmen claimed a surprise gold at last year's world championships in Saalbach.

At the time, his rise to notoriety was so rapid he had yet to get his own Wikipedia page in English. That has since been rectified.

While free skiing and enjoyment were key to Von Allmen's early years on skis, he quickly made his name in youth competition, albeit often skipping the prize-giving ceremonies to spend more time on the slopes.

But it was not the be and end all, and unlike many of his teammates, he did not pass through a prestigious ski training school.

Instead, Von Allmen did a four-year apprenticeship in carpentry and the motocross fanatic still spends part of the summer working on construction sites.

Von Allmen lost his father when he was a 17-year-old, leaving the family struggling to finance the promising skier's career.

"They suggested launching a crowdfunding campaign. This raised enough money to finance another season. And then, I made the Swiss team," he said.

- Grounded -

In Swiss colours, Von Allmen shone: he was a triple silver medallist in the world juniors in 2022, notably finishing behind Franzoni in the downhill.

"To share the podium with Franjo after the junior world championships, he's such a great guy," Franzoni said on Saturday.

Von Allmen remains very grounded and lives with his brother. Their grandmother drops by every Wednesday to give their house a clean.

"I'm not really jealous of the attention Marco gets," he said of Odermatt, a real media darling of the Swiss team.

"For me, the less the better!"

Von Allmen's notoriety in his small home village of Boltigen, southwest of the Swiss capital Bern, did not however escape the attention of the local butcher.

"Franjo's Wurst", a type of sausage, retails at 2.60 Swiss francs ($3.35) for 100g.

Von Allmen claimed his first top-10 finish in the World Cup in December 2023, making the super-G podium in Garmisch-Partenkirchen a month later before a first victory in the Wengen super-G a year later.

The new Olympic champion is always quick to credit Odermatt and the rest of a strong squad with being instrumental in his growth as a racer.

"We are talking a lot. We analyse everything together. We try to help each other, so for sure we are good mates," Odermatt has said.

Odermatt described Von Allmen as a "crazy guy".

"He doesn't think much, he just goes always full speed and if everything goes well... he can win every race," he said.

Q.Najjar--SF-PST