Switzerland claims opening gold, home speed skater shatters Olympic record

Swiss alpine skier Franjo von Allmen won the first gold medal of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in the men's downhill on Saturday, while Italian veteran Francesca Lollobrigida set a new Olympic record in the women's 3,000m speed skating event to claim her first Olympic gold, reported Xinhua.

On the daunting Stelvio course, Von Allmen posted a winning time of one minute and 51.61 seconds, withstanding challenges from Italian skiers Giovanni Franzoni and Dominik Paris, who placed second and third respectively. All three claimed their first Olympic medals.

"Feels kind of like a movie, not really real," said the Swiss skier. "I will get it a few days after the Olympics are over. For now, can you imagine doing better at the Olympics?"

Paris, a five-time Olympian, said the result carried special meaning on a slope where he has enjoyed sustained World Cup wins.

"I've had a nice career so far. Having this success on this hill means a lot," he noted.

Men's downhill is considered one of the signature events of the Winter Olympics, featuring the longest course in alpine skiing, the largest vertical drop and the highest speeds. Saturday's race covered 3,442 meters, with a vertical drop of 1,023 meters from start to finish.

Only 36 skiers took part, the lowest number since the men's downhill became a standalone Olympic event in 1948. Several athletes withdrew following official training runs.

On the ice rink, Lollobrigida delighted the home crowd by breaking the women's 3,000m speed skating Olympic record. The four-time Olympian celebrated her 35th birthday by securing Italy's first gold of the Games with a time of three minutes and 54.28 seconds, 2.65 seconds faster than the previous record set by Irene Schouten of the Netherlands in Beijing four years ago.

"It's incredible, because we are in Italy. The Olympics are in Italy. This is the dream of my dreams," said Lollobrigida.

Ragne Wiklund of Norway took silver in 3:56.54, while Canada's Valerie Maltais claimed bronze with a time of 3:56.93.

In a fiercely contested men's snowboard big air final defined by soaring difficulty, defending champion Su Yiming earned China its first medal of the Games with a bronze.

Su triumphed at Beijing 2022 with a pair of 1800s, but this time, eight riders had already landed 1980s in qualification alone.

He opened the final with a clean and confident 1980-degree spin, earning 88.25 points, but could not fully capitalize thereafter, touching down with his hand on both his second and third runs for scores of 73.75 and 80.25 respectively. With the best two scores counted, the Chinese sensation totaled 168.50 points.

"In such major events, you never perform exactly as you do in training. It's not a training session where you can attempt things endlessly. But it was still a brilliant competition and everyone managed to perform well under immense pressure," Su said afterwards.

Japan, who had four riders in the final, saw Kira Kimura and Ryoma Kimata achieve a 1-2 finish.

Like what Su had undergone in the qualification, China's another Beijing 2022 gold medalist, Gu Ailing, rebounded from an early setback to reach the women's freeski slopestyle final along with teammates Han Linshan and Liu Mengting.

Recalling her adjustment during the match, Gu said, "If there's anyone to bet on at this moment, I want to bet on myself."

Five golds were determined on the first competition day after the opening ceremony. Norway and Sweden also grabbed one apiece.

Norway's Anna Odine Stroem won the women's normal hill ski jumping by edging Slovenia's title favorite Nika Prevc with a 1.1-point margin.

"I still haven't quite realized it, I'm in shock. It's amazing," Stroem said as she was lifted onto her teammates' shoulders in celebration.

Sweden's Frida Karlsson clocked 53 minutes 45.2 seconds to capture gold in the women's 10km+10km skiathlon, 51 seconds ahead of compatriot Ebba Andersson.

At the Cortina Sliding Center, Germany's Max Langenhan led the men's singles luge standings after setting two track records from as many runs. The 26-year-old clocked 52.924 seconds in his first run before improving it to 52.902 in the second.

In mixed doubles curling, British pair Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat have won all seven of their round-robin games so far, securing a spot in the next phase.

Mouat said that they would not ease up when approaching the final two games. "We're going to try and keep the momentum rolling," he said.