Cormac Comerford has finished 34th in the men’s downhill on the opening day of the Alpine skiing at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, where Switzerland’s Franjo von Allmen delivered a sensational performance to win the first gold medal of the Games.
Comerford was making his Olympic debut in skiing’s queen event at the Stelvio Ski Centre in Bormio, finishing the 3,442-metre course in a time of 2:04.40. That left him 34th among the 36 starters, and well pleased with his effort on a highly technical, and in parts treacherous, course.
“It’s an incredible feeling to make my Olympic debut today in this weather, on this slope,” said Comerford, who started out last among the field. “To bring it down Stelvio is a huge achievement, coming from the artificial slope back home. There’s a huge sense of pride. I made a few mistakes in the run, it felt smoother in training, but that’s racing and I’m really proud to have brought it down.
“Everyone’s eyes are on you, and the track is probably as destroyed as it can be. It’s definitely more challenging, but the snow grip team did an amazing job keeping the conditions good and safe. It’s a pleasure to ride this slope. It’s renowned on the World Cup circuit as one of the toughest slopes in the world, so it’s great that I’ve had the opportunity to run this track, in these conditions, at this time of the year.
“It’s been a really long journey with lots of bumps in the road. I’m excited to be here and looking forward to putting down my best performances. If I’m proud, I hope I can make Ireland proud as well.”
The 29-year-old Comerford still has three more Alpine skiing events to come; the super-G, giant slalom, and slalom. The Dublin skier first discovered the sport at age eight on the dry slopes of the Ski Club of Ireland in Kilternan, qualifying for these Winter Games on his fourth attempt.
Gold medal winner Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland in action during the men’s downhill in Bormio. Photograph: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images
Rising Swiss star Von Allmen crushed the Italian hopes of a home victory, also getting the better of his fancied team-mate Marco Odermatt when taking the gold medal in a time 1:51.61.
The Italian pair of Giovanni Franzoni and Dominik Paris had both taken the lead after their earlier runs, but in the end had to settle for silver and bronze medals respectively, clocking times of 1:51.81 and 1:52.11.
Odermatt was the four-time defending World Cup champion and started as a strong favourite, leading the field after his run as he looked to claim his first Olympic downhill title. But ultimately it was Von Allmen, a 24-year-old with just four World Cup downhill wins to his name, who finished in glory.
Von Allmen was the 2025 world downhill champion and mastered a course considered one of the most challenging in the skiing world.
“I think at the moment I can’t really tell you in words what it means to me, for the moment it just feels like a movie,” Von Allmen said. “I was really relaxed in the morning and tried to keep the good feelings from the training, tried to fit all the pieces together from the training and just have fun skiing.”
The new Olympic champion joins a long list of Swiss downhill champions, becoming the fifth gold medallist in the event from his country, with the last being Beat Feuz, who retired after winning at the last Games in Beijing in 2022.
Ireland’s Thomas Maloney Westgård, born on the island of Leka in Norway to a Galway mother and Norwegian father, will return for his third Winter Olympics in cross-country skiing on Sunday. His first event is the 10km skiathlon.