Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen wins men's downhill to claim 1st gold at Milano-Cortina Olympics

Swiss racer Franjo von Allmen won the Olympic men's downhill Saturday to capture the first gold medal at the Milano-Cortina Olympic Games.

On a picture-perfect day in Bormio, Italy, von Allmen powered through the challenging Stelvio course in one minute, 51.61 seconds. His time was good enough to withstand the charge of Italy's Giovanni Franzoni (1:51.81), who took silver.

Franzoni's teammate, Dominik Paris, had a run of 1:52.11 to claim the bronze medal, knocking Switzerland's Marco Odermatt (1:52.31) off of the podium.

Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen wins 1st gold medal of Milano-Cortina Olympics with downhill victory

The top Canadian was Toronto's Jack Crawford (1:53.00), who finished 1.39 seconds back of von Allmen to take ninth place.

Other Canadian results included Cam Alexander, of North Vancouver, B.C., in 14th; Jeff Read, of Canmore, Alta., was 25th; and Brodie Seger, also of North Vancouver, finished 28th overall.

The 24-year-old von Allmen sometimes flies under the radar of Odermatt, who's won four straight overall World Cup titles. They're fast friends and rivals. They share course information but hold a little back, too.

The stands were packed with flag-waving fans.