Swiss racer Franjo von Allmen brought home the first gold medal at the Milan Cortina Games by winning the downhill on Saturday. It`s his first Olympic crown in his very first Olympic race.

Not so long ago, it wasn`t clear if there would be anymore "firsts" for him in ski racing. As a teenager, and after the death of his father, von Allmen didn`t have the money for racing - until a crowdfunding project helped out.

Now, the 24-year-old is king of the downhill.

On a picture-perfect day in Bormio, von Allmen powered through the challenging Stelvio course in 1 minute, 51.61 seconds to keep the Olympic downhill title in the Swiss family. His time was good enough to withstand the charge of Italy`s Giovanni Franzoni, who finished .20 seconds back to claim the silver medal. Franzoni`s teammate, the 36-year-old Dominik Paris, had a fast run to take bronze and knock Marco Odermatt of Switzerland off the podium.

"I had fun with the skiing today," von Allmen said.

His skiing career was almost derailed at 17. Through crowdfunding he raised money and qualified for the national C team. He showed his vast promise by winning three silver medals, including one in downhill, at the 2022 junior worlds in Canada.

That particular time, however, was not something he wanted to revisit after the race.

"For me that chapter is closed," he said through a translator. "I prefer to concentrate on what`s yet to come and what`s happening now."

Aksel Lund Svindal, the 2018 Olympic downhill champion from Norway, considered von Allmen a favorite. Svindal was impressed with the young racer`s performance during a downhill win in Switzerland leading into the Games.

"It`s the skiing of someone that`s really in form so I`m not surprised," Svindal said from Cortina, where he`s coaching Lindsey Vonn. "Very good skiing, obviously."

The Swiss skier sometimes goes under the radar of his compatriot Odermatt, who`s won four straight overall World Cup titles. They`re fast friends and friendly rivals. They share course information but hold a little back, too. Turns out, von Allmen had the better inside track on the demanding hill.

"I had a good feeling," Odermatt said. "But it was just not fast enough."

This has been quite a run for von Allmen, who won the downhill at the world championships in Austria last winter. He`s using the same ski technician that Swiss racer Beat Feuz relied on to win the downhill at the 2022 Beijing Games before retiring.

"It feels like a movie," von Allmen said. "How could you imagine the Olympics better than to start with a gold medal? Amazing. It`s difficult to describe it in words."