SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM – “Oh, oh, oh. So good. So good.”
The words of “Sweet Caroline” reverberated through the narrow Alpine valley hosting the skiing world championships as the crowd of 22,500 belted out the famous lyrics in celebration of Austrian veteran and home favorite Vincent Kriechmayr.
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Oh no was the response from Swiss upstart Franjo von Allmen two skiers later.
The 23-year-old Von Allmen pushed Kriechmayr down a spot and grabbed gold in the marquee men’s downhill on Sunday to announce himself as the sport’s next big thing.
Take it from Marco Odermatt, the already established star of the Swiss team who took gold in super-G two days earlier and placed fifth this time.
“He can win every race,” Odermatt said.
Von Allmen trailed Kriechmayr at the penultimate checkpoint on the Schneekristall (snow crystal) course before accelerating through the last gates and soaring 52.5 yards (48 meters) — more than half the length of a football field — off the final jump.
Von Allmen finished 0.24 seconds ahead of silver medalist Kriechymayr and 0.31 ahead of bronze medalist Alexis Monney, another rising Swiss racer.
“It’s crazy,” Von Allmen said as the Swiss fans in the crowd took over with their chants of “Hopp Suisse” (Go Switzerland). “One day it’s Odermatt, the other day two other athletes from the Swiss team. It’s really fun we can push each other like this. It’s pretty, pretty cool.”
During the podium ceremony, Von Allmen was named the “Weltmeister” (world champion) by Austrian downhilling great Franz Klammer, the 1976 Olympic champion.
The host country surely would have preferred to have Klammer awarding an Austrian skier. But Switzerland has dominated the downhills on the World Cup circuit all season, with four wins and five second places in five events.
“(Odermatt) is always telling us which line he’s going to take. We’re exchanging a lot in our team and maybe that’s also why it’s working so well,” Monney said.
While Von Allmen has yet to win a World Cup downhill, he did finish runner-up three times this season. He also won a super-G on home snow in Wengen last month.
“We knew he’s good but maybe not this good,” said Stefan Rogentin, another Swiss racer.
There was a time, though, when nobody knew what might become of Von Allmen. That's because his skiing career nearly ended at age 17 when his father died and he lacked the financial means to continue racing.
But Von Allmen set up a crowd-funding project that gathered 16,000 Swiss francs ($17,600), qualified for the national C team the following year and then won three silver medals, including one in downhill, at the 2022 junior worlds in Canada.
A trained carpenter, Von Allmen still works on construction sites in the offseason in his home valley of Simmental.
“It’s important to bring something different in my head,” he said.
Several teammates described Von Allmen as “crazy” for his full-on approach to skiing.
“The second training in Kitzbuehel, he goes always 100%,” Rogentin said. “Sometimes that’s a little bit crazy. He (doesn’t) brake.”
And while they enjoy being with him on the hill, none of his teammates want to share a room with Von Allmen. That’s because he snores too loud, Rogentin confirmed.
For worlds, Von Allmen is sharing a suite with Monney. But there probably won’t be too much sleeping going on anytime soon in their two rooms.
“It’s going to be a big party tonight,” Von Allmen said.
US skiers don’t come close to completing a sweep after Breezy Johnson’s win
The race did not go as planned for Ryan Cochran-Siegle, the American who had led two of the three training sessions.
Cochran-Siegle finished 13th after an error-strewn run and some heavy landings on the jumps.
“I didn’t ski fast enough,” said Cochran-Siegle, the Olympic super-G silver medalist. “I just didn’t execute.”
The top American finisher was Bryce Bennett in 10th.
After Breezy Johnson won the women’s downhill on Saturday, the American men were aiming for an unprecedented sweep.
“Ryan and I in downhill can compete for the win every single weekend,” Bennett said. “We’re missing a little bit of that confidence on race day.”
In a year, men’s skiing for the Milan-Cortina Olympics will be held on the Stelvio course in Bormio, where Cochran-Siegle has won a World Cup super-G and claimed three other top-five finishes.
But the Swiss are the early favorites for the Olympics. After all, Monney and Von Allmen finished 1-2 in the Bormio downhill this season.
“They are the team to beat right now,” Cochran-Siegle said, “and we’re just all trying to play catch-up.”
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Associated Press writer Eric Willemsen contributed.
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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing