Men's Downhill Event at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games

Downhill is considered the premier discipline and is the longest and, after the Slalom, second-oldest alpine skiing competition. Due to the high speeds involved, Downhill is by far the most risky discipline.

Downhill emphasizes "the six components of technique, courage, speed, risk, physical condition, and judgement", according to the FIS International Ski Competition Rules.

Dominik Paris. Stelvio, Bormio. Picture: Erich Spiess / Red Bull Content Pool

The Men's Alpine Skiing Downhill will be held in Bormio, on the Stelvio slope. Alongside the Streif of Kitzbuhel, the Stelvio slope is regarded as one of the most technical and spectacular slopes in the world.

February 7, 11:30 CET Men's Downhill Bormio

Who to Watch?

Swiss skiers are the clear dominators of the Downhill discipline. Franjo Von Allmen's victory in the last Alpine Ski World Cup Downhill in Crans Montana marked the twentieth consecutive time that at least one Swiss skier has reached the podium in the Downhill World Cup, the longest streak in the country's history. However, Switzerland still has a long way to go to match the record of 33 consecutive downhill podium finishes achieved by Austrian skiers during the 2002-2003 and 2005-2006 winter seasons.

Marco Odermatt, a two-time defending Downhill Crystal Globe winner, has had the best start to a Downhill season in his Alpine Ski World Cup career. He has achieved three victories this season, winning at Beaver Creek, the first Val Gardena Downhill, and Wengen. Additionally, he secured two second-place finishes at the Val Gardena Downhill and Kitzbühel, along with a fourth place in Crans Montana.

It has been two seasons since Marco Odermatt finished outside the top seven in a Downhill World Cup race. He finished 15th in March 2023 at the World Cup Final in Soldeu, Andorra.

Marco Odermatt is leading the 2025-2026 World Cup discipline standings after six events with 510 points. Franjo von Allmen is second with 395 points. Dominik Paris is third with 296 points.

The 28-year-old Swiss skier won gold in the Giant Slalom at Beijing 2022, and will be looking to add significantly to that overall haul at Milano Cortina 2026.

Franjo Von Allmen won the sixth race of the Alpine Ski World Cup Downhill season in Crans Montana. The 24-year-old talent secured his second Downhill win of the winter season, bringing his total Alpine Ski World Cup victories to five.

Milano Cortina 2026 will be the first Olympic Winter Games for the Swiss skier.

Italian skiers have featured on a podium in five consecutive World Cup Downhill races: Dominik Paris was second in Crans Montana and third in the first race in Val Gardena, Florian Schieder was third in the second Val Gardena Downhill, and Giovanni Franzoni claimed third in Wengen and first in Kitzbuehel. This is the team’s longest streak of World Cup Downhill podiums, also achieved back in the 1996-1997 winter season.

Dominik Paris is the King of the selective and exhausting Stelvio. The 34-year-old Italian skier won the Downhill in Bormio six times (2012, 2017, 2018, a double in 2019, and 2021). Bormio means a lot to the Südtiroler, as many career highlights, including his first World Cup win, have come in the Italian ski resort. Paris set a new record in 2021 for the most World Cup Downhill wins at a specific ski resort, edging Didier Cuche with five in Kitzbühel.

Paris also won a Super-G in 2018. The only male skier to have won more than 7 World Cup speed events at a single resort is Aksel Lund Svindal (8 at Lake Louise). Paris is tied in this ranking with Kjetil Jansrud (7 in Kvitfjell).

Thanks to his podium finish in Crans Montana, his 52nd in the World Cup, Dominik Paris joins Franz Heinzer in 6th place on the all-time Men’s Downhill World Cup Top-3 finishes list, with 34 podiums. Beat Feuz, with 47 podiums, tops this list.

Paris is aiming for his first Olympic medal in Bormio at his fifth Winter Games.

Giovanni Franzoni had a remarkable weekend in Wengen, where he claimed his first career World Cup Super G win before recording his first career World Cup Downhill podium a day later. A week later, in Kitzbuehel, he won a World Cup Downhill for the first time in his career. Franzoni became the first non-Swiss skier to win a World Cup Downhill race this season. The 24-year-old Italian rising star became the third skier to reach more than one World Cup Downhill podium this season. The other two are Marco Odermatt (5) and Franjo von Allmen (2).

Milano Cortina 2026 will be the first Olympic Winter Games for the Italian skier.

Vincent Kriechmayr is a top medal contender in the speed disciplines. He was the last Austrian to win a Downhill race in Grandvalira Soldeu - El Tarter in March 2023. The 34-year-old skier broke Austria's Men's Team streak of eleven Downhill races without a podium finish during the traditional Lauberhorn Downhill race in Wengen. On February 17, 2024, Vincent Kriechmayr finished second in Kvitfjell. He claimed his 40th career Alpine World Cup podium in Wengen (16 in Downhill, 24 in Super G).

Kriechmayr is aiming for his first Olympic medal in Bormio at his third Winter Games.

Olympic Downhill Champions

Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 Birger Ruud (Norway)

St. Moritz 1948 Henri Oreiller (France)

Oslo 1952 Zeno Colo (Italy)

Cortina d'Ampezzo 1956 Anton Sailer (Austria)

Squaw Valley 1960 Jean Vuarnet (France)

Innsbruck 1964 Egon Zimmerman (Austria)

Grenoble 1968 Jean-Claude Killy (France)

Sapporo 1972 Bernhard Russi (Switzerland)

Innsbruck 1976 Franz Klammer (Austria)

Lake Placid 1980 Leonhard Stock (Austria)

Sarajevo 1984 Bill Johnson (USA)

Calgary 1988 Pirmin Zurbriggen (Switzerland)

Albertville 1992 Patrick Ortlieb (Austria)

Lillehammer 1994 Tommy Moe (USA)

Nagano 1998 Jean-Luc Cretier (France)

Salt Lake 2002 Fritz Strobl (Austria)

Torino 2006 Antoine Deneriaz (France)

Vancouver 2010 Didier Defago (Switzerland)

Sochi 2014 Matthias Mayer (Austria)

PyeongChang 2018 Aksel Lund Svindal (Norway)

Beijing 2022 Beat Feuz (Switzerland)

Beat Feuz is the reigning Downhill Olympic Champion. In an exciting race, Feuz won the gold medal in the Downhill at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, and confirmed his dominance of the discipline in the 2000's. He mastered a tricky "Rock" racecourse with manmade dry and grippy snow that had never been raced before.

Feuz, who has won World Championships gold in St. Moritz in 2017 and triumphed three times each in the great classics in Wengen and Kitzbühel, crowned his outstanding career with a victory in the Olympic Downhill.

It was her third Olympic medal after winning silver in Super-G and bronze in Downhill at PyeongChang 2018.

Beat Feuz is the fourth Downhill Olympic Champion from Switzerland after Bernhard Russi (1972), Pirmin Zurbriggen (1988), and Didier Defago (2010).

Beat Feuz was joined on the podium by 41-year-old Johan Clarey, who finished just 0.10 seconds off the lead. The French celebrated the greatest success of their career with Olympic silver. Clarey becomes the oldest man to win an Olympic medal in alpine ski racing.

Matthias Mayer of Austria completed the podium in third place for his third Olympic medal. Eight years after his gold in Sochi, Mayer earned his second Olympic medal in the discipline.