KVITFJELL, Norway (AP) — In yet another Swiss duel in World Cup men's downhills, Franjo von Allmen edged teammate Marco Odermatt to win Saturday and send their season-long title contest to the final race in the United States.
Von Allmen, the new world champion aged just 23, finished 0.28 seconds ahead of Odermatt, who needed an agile recovery midway down the 1994 Olympics slope to stay upright.
Stefan Rogentin completed a Swiss sweep of the podium in third, trailing 0.38 behind Von Allmen.
Switzerland waited 29 years to finish 1-2-3 in a World Cup men’s downhill at Crans-Montana on Feb. 22. The next one came just 14 days later.
Both times Von Allmen won and Odermatt was runner-up. Odermatt smiled in the finish area Saturday and as a show of respect pointed toward his good friend sitting course-side in the leader's box.
“We are still friends even if we fight for the same globe (trophy)," said Odermatt, who had Von Allmen as runner-up in both of his downhill wins this season, at Val Gardena, Italy in December and storied Swiss venue Wengen in January.
Von Allmen earned 100 World Cup points and Odermatt got 80. That cut Odermatt’s lead in the downhill standings to 83 and he needs just a top-14 result on March 22 at Sun Valley, Idaho, to retain his downhill title.
“The fight is almost lost," Von Allmen acknowledged, "but everything can happen. We will see what Marco shows us and what I can show in Sun Valley.”
Odermatt is cruising toward a fourth straight overall World Cup title with a 520-point lead over Henrik Kristoffersen, who races only in slalom and giant slalom. The 27-year-old Odermatt can confirm his title Sunday by winning a scheduled super-G.
Von Allmen’s breakout season now counts two wins in World Cup downhills, one in super-G and two worlds gold medals last month at Saalbach, Austria, in downhill and team combined.
He clocked the fastest speed Saturday at close to 130 kph (81 mph) — slicker than the squirrels caught on camera scampering across the snow to the forest behind the safety fences — on the 3.04-kilometer (1.9-mile) course used at the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Games.
Von Allmen said he was more at ease than when finishing fourth in the downhill on Friday, racing then on softer snow in the sunshine, when he landed a wild, long jump.
“Today with the cold temperatures and compact snow it felt much better,” he said.
It was Odermatt's turn Saturday to have a moment that worried viewers he was about to crash out.
“Everyone says that (it was crazy). I actually didn’t really feel it like that," Odermatt said, adding "but for sure that upper part was far away from my plan. I totally missed the line.”
Italian star Dominik Paris had denied Switzerland victory in Friday’s downhill when Odermatt was second and Rogentin third. Paris placed sixth Saturday trailing 0.59 behind Von Allmen.
Rogentin got back-to-back third places in the week he submitted his thesis for a Masters degree in sustainable business development.
“I’m pretty happy I finished my Masters but in two weeks I have to do the speech,” he said. “I’m more nervous for a race, of course.”
Sun Valley stages the week-long World Cup finals meeting for men and women from March 22-27 — returning to the circuit for the first time since 1977, when just slalom and giant slalom were raced.
___
AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
The Associated Press
