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The first gold medal of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games was awarded on Saturday at the men’s downhill race.
On a picture-perfect day in Bormio, Swiss racer Franjo von Allmen powered through the challenging course in 1 minute, 51.61 seconds.
Gabriele Facciotti / AP
His time was good enough to withstand the challenge of Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni, who finished 0.2 of a second behind von Allmen to take the silver medal. Franzoni’s teammate, Dominik Paris, had a fast run to take bronze and knock Marco Odermatt of Team Switzerland off the podium.
The highest-ranked American in the men’s downhill was Kyle Negomir, who finished 10th.
“My goal was to put down something where I could stand in the finish and say I didn’t have any regrets,” Negomir said.
Sweden goes 1-2 in women’s skiathlon
Team Sweden has a strong showing at the women’s 10km+10km skiathlon, taking gold and silver on Saturday at Tesero Cross-Country Skiing Stadium in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
Frida Karlsson powered to the top of the podium, covering the 20-kilometer course (just a little more than 12 miles) in 53 minutes, 45.2 seconds.
Maddie Meyer / Getty Images 
Her teammate, two-time reigning world champ Ebba Andersson, crossed the finish line 51 seconds later. Heidi Weng, of Norway, took bronze.
Either a Swedish or Norwegian woman has won the skiathlon gold medal in the last five Winter Olympics.
For Team USA’s Jessie Diggins, an early fall knocked the American star out of medal contention. She finished eighth, 2 minutes, 21.1 seconds behind Karlsson.
Diggins said the setback did little to dampen her confidence.
“I’ve had so much love and so much support from so many amazing people back home,” Diggins said. “And I just really wanted to bring them joy and just go out there and race my heart out and that’s what I did today. I’m really proud of that.”
While the result ended Diggins’ medal hopes in the opening race of the Olympic cross-country program, she said her performance also offered reassurance.
“Oh, there’s so many races to go,” Diggins said. “I was really proud of this skate half. I’m really encouraged by where my body is at. There’s so many variables that need to come together to have a good race.”
