Odermatt beats rising star Franjo von Allmen in Switzerland's classic World Cup downhill

It surely ranked among the best and most joyous five minutes in Alpine skiing history for the Swiss men's team and fans at the race they prize above all.

Marco Odermatt, the 27-year-old superstar of men's skiing, raced down the longest and quirkiest World Cup downhill course to edge teammate Franjo von Allmen for victory in the classic Lauberhorn race in Wengen, Switzerland.

As Odermatt waited at the start gate, the 23-year-old Von Allmen delighted a noisy crowd of 40,000 with the latest standout display of his breakout season to set the fastest time, one day after getting his first World Cup win in a super-G.

Odermatt would not be denied on a near-perfect day for downhill racing on fast, hard snow under sunshine and blue skies in temperatures of 2 Celsius (36 degrees F) at the finish.

"This is my house!" Odermatt declared in English on seeing he was 0.37 seconds faster than Von Allmen. Third-place Miha Hrobat was 0.57 back after setting a fast target as the first starter. The result was unofficial with low-ranked skiers yet to race.

The celebration was a shoutout to Daniel Yule, Odermatt said later of his Swiss teammate with British parents who said the same on winning a slalom at nearby Adelboden in 2020.

Von Allmen then hugged Odermatt and shared exuberant smiles as he gave up his seat in the courseside leader's box to his good friend.

Cameron Alexander of North Vancouver, B.C., was the top Canadian in fifth place, four spots ahead of Toronto's Jack Crawford.

Wengen is fast becoming Odermatt's house, after winning both downhills on the course one year ago and being runner-up behind Aleksander Aamodt Kilde in the two previous years. Kilde is skipping this season to recover from injuries suffered crashing near the