Alpine skiing-Von Allmen and inspired Nef take combined gold for Switzerland

BORMIO, Italy, Feb 9 : Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen's dream Olympics continued as he won his second gold medal in 48 hours by partnering Tanguy Nef to victory in the Alpine skiing men's team combined on Monday.

Von Allmen was only fourth-fastest down the Stelvio course on which he won gold in the blue-riband downhill on Saturday, but Nef nailed the slalom leg in sizzling style.

The Swiss duo won a fascinating event, making its Olympic debut in its new format, by a commanding 0.99 seconds.

There was despair, though, for Italians Giovanni Franzoni and Alex Vinatzer.

FRANZONI FASTEST IN DOWNHILL

Franzoni was fastest in the downhill leg by 0.17 seconds on a crisp and sunny morning in the Italian resort but Vinatzer, the last skier to go in the second leg, buckled under the pressure and was only 18th fastest in the slalom as they finished seventh overall.

Swiss great Marco Odermatt again missed out on gold after his disappointing result in the downhill.

But he at least earned his first medal of the Games as he partnered world champion Loic Meillard in a tie for the silver with Austrians Vincent Kriechmayr and Manuel Feller.

Austrians Raphael Haaser and Michael Matt missed a medal by 0.03 seconds in fourth place.

The men's Alpine skiing events in Bormio were billed as the stage for Odermatt to underline his domination of the sport.

Instead, it is the 24-year-old Von Allmen who has usurped his more illustrious team mate, even if he did need a little help from a friend on Monday.

Nef's biggest previous claim to fame was a silver medal at the 2025 world championships alongside Alexis Monney when the new team combined event was rolled out for the first time.

But on a sun-kissed Stelvio slalom course, he weaved his way through the 67