Winter Olympics briefing: Von Allmen joins greats with sweep and a shrug

Franjo von Allmen felt the run had not been perfect. At the finish in Bormio, he shrugged, wiggled his gloved hands as if to say meh and stuck out his tongue jokingly. Gold? Surely not. Maybe not even a medal. Seconds later, the scoreboard told a different story.

In a blazing 1:25.32, the 24-year-old Swiss captured the super-G title – his third gold at Milano Cortina. Just like that, Von Allmen joined two greats: Austria’s Toni Sailer (1956) and France’s Jean-Claude Killy (1968), the only other men to sweep three alpine events at a single Winter Olympics. Von Allmen opened his Games with downhill gold, then teamed up with Tanguy Nef to win the inaugural team combined event. Three races. Three golds. Five dizzying days.

Franjo von Allmen on his way to the men’s super-G title, and greatness. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

Von Allmen, characteristically, shrugged again once his gold was confirmed. “It sounds stupid but I’m not interested in what is on the paper,” he said of records. “Maybe in a few years it will be important. For now, it isn’t really. For the moment, I feel like I am dreaming. I hope I don’t wake up. I’m missing the words today. It’s completely surreal.”

Wednesday’s super-G was anything but simple. Starting seventh, Von Allmen attacked a course growing softer by the minute as warming temperatures turned firm morning snow into a test of nerve. He found a daring, direct line and carried speed where others hesitated. His reward? A 0.13-second edge over the American Ryan Cochran-Siegle and a place in Swiss history as the nation’s first men’s Olympic super-G champion. Von Allmen’s compatriot Marco Odermatt won bronze.

Cochran-Siegle’s silver added to a remarkable 24-hour stretch for the University of Vermont – the university nestled in the second-least populated US state with just over 600,000 residents – which celebrated their third skiing medal at these Games. Cochran-Siegle’s mother, Barbara, a 1972 Olympic slalom champion who also received higher education in Vermont, watched from the crowd. “Must be something in the water back home,” he joked.

Heated Rivalries: the mental game

Not all Olympic battles are fought head-to-head. Some are waged in hundredths of a second. Some unfold in a single misjudged turn. And sometimes, the fiercest rival waiting at the bottom of the mountain is the one staring back from the big screen.

France’s Nils Allègre knows that feeling all too well.

On Wednesday, Allègre missed an Olympic super-G medal by three hundredths of a second – a margin so microscopic it barely registers on the clock. First out of the start gate, with no benchmark to chase and no split times to measure against, the 32-year-old delivered what he called one of the finest runs of his career. It was bold. It was clean. It was fearless. It was fourth.

“I’m furious, that’s for sure. It’s hard, very hard,” said Allègre, who cried in the arms of the former French skier Johan Clarey after the race. “I’m having a very good Olympics, I’m skiing the best of my life, my level of form has never been this high. I gave everything with bib No 1 and without any reference, and I’m three hundredths off. It’s extremely tough.”

For Allègre, the sting is familiar. He has stacked up fourth-place finishes on the World Cup circuit, in Val Gardena this season in downhill and super-G, and again there last year. Always close. Always just outside the medals.

Off by three hundredths a second: Nils Allègre finished fourth in the men’s super-G. Photograph: John Locher/AP

“Other guys always seem to have the hundredths on their side, and I never do,” he said. “I feel a mix of pride and disappointment. I’m proud of the way I skied, but there’s no reward at the end. Three hundredths in a lifetime is nothing. And today it would have made all the difference.”

Across the Alps in Livigno, Australia’s Jakara Anthony experienced a different kind of near miss, with a single, split-second mistake. The Beijing gold medallist arrived in Milano Cortina as the favourite in moguls, poised to become the first Australian Winter Olympian to defend a title. Through the early rounds, she looked untouchable. Her first final run was a masterclass: 83.96 points, more than three clear of the field.

Midway down the course in the super final, Anthony skidded. A tiny loss of balance on the relentless rhythm of the moguls. She fought to recover and finished the run, but the damage was done. The judges awarded 60.81.

“I’m bummed,” she said. “I’m really proud of the skiing I was able to do on the course. I was skiing and jumping at such a high level. I really had what it took to take that top step. I showed that in the first couple of rounds, but I just didn’t put it down on that last one when it counted. I had more to give.”

Jakara Anthony failed to become the first Australian Winter Olympian to defend a title after her eighth-place finish in women’s moguls. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

As it stands

The hosts jump back into the top five as the US close in on Norway in the total medal tally.

1 🇳🇴 Norway 🥇 7 🥈 2 🥉 4 – Total: 13
2 🇺🇸 United States 🥇 4 🥈 6 🥉 2 – Total: 12
3 🇮🇹 Italy 🥇 4 🥈 2 🥉 7 – Total: 13
4 🇨🇭 Switzerland 🥇 4 🥈 1 🥉 2 – Total: 7
5 🇩🇪 Germany 🥇 3 🥈 3 🥉 2 – Total: 8

Full medal table

Picture of the day

Julia Simon shushes in celebration after winning the women’s 15km biathlon. The Frenchwoman was convicted of committing credit card fraud against one of her opponents. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Further reading from the Guardian

• Fear and Gibson suffer nightmare on ice as GB medal drought goes on

• Russia plays prideful, but there’s no doubt the Olympics ban is hurting

• ‘I’m happy to defend my country’: meet Greenland’s Olympian defying Trump

• French biathlete guilty of fraud wins gold while scammed teammate comes 80th

• Ukrainian skeleton athlete ready to be disqualified over ‘helmet of memory’

• ‘It is hard to forgive’: former girlfriend of Norwegian biathlete responds to apology for affair

• Stolz crushes 1000m record to begin four-gold pursuit after reskate

• Quality sports coverage matters – now more than ever

• Milano Cortina 2026 day five – in pictures

Schedule | Results

What to look out for today

Times are all in local time in Milan and Cortina. For Sydney it is +10 hours, for London it is -1 hour, for New York it is -6 hours and San Francisco it is -9 hours.

• Alpine skiing – 11.30am🥇: Italy’s Sofia Goggia and New Zealand’s Alice Robinson are among the top contenders for the women’s super-G.

• Ice hockey – 12.10pm, 2.30pm, 4.40pm, 9.10pm: NHL players compete in the men’s edition for the first time since 2014, with Canada taking on the Czech Republic and the US facing Latvia.

• Freestyle skiing – 12.15pm🥇: Japan’s Horishima Ikuma is the man to beat in the men’s moguls finals after a stunning qualification.

• Cross-country skiing – 1pm🥇: Team GB’s Anna Pryce is in action for the women’s 10km interval start free.

• Snowboard – 2.56pm🥇, 7.30pm🥇: the men’s cross finals takes place before women’s half-pipe final under the lights.

• Speed skating – 4.30pm🥇: Canada’s Isabelle Weidemann won silver in the women’s 5000m at Beijing 2022. Can she do one better?

• Luge – 6.30pm🥇: Germany are favourites in the team relay which involves women’s singles, men’s singles, women’s doubles and men’s doubles.

• Short track speed skating – 9.36pm🥇, 9.48pm🥇: different than speed skating, the women’s 500m and men’s 1000m takes place on a short track that is 111.12m.

The last word

A year ago, no one would have guessed that I would have even had a chance at a medal, so to be standing here heartbroken is a privilege – Summer Britcher of the United States reframes her 14th-place finish in the women’s singles luge.

Hit reply or email [email protected] to get in touch.