Skier Giovanni Franzoni gave hosts Italy hope of another gold medal after leading the downhill portion of the men's team combined on Monday, a new Winter Olympic event. Two racers compete as a team, with one taking part in the downhill and the other tackling the slalom later in the day.
Skier Giovanni Franzoni gave hosts Italy hope of another gold medal after leading the downhill portion of the men's team combined on Monday, a new Winter Olympic event.
Two racers compete as a team, with one taking part in the downhill and the other tackling the slalom later in the day. The combined times decide the medals. Nations can have more than one pairing.
Franzoni topped the downhill in 1 minute 51.80 seconds, 0.17 seconds quicker than Switzerland's Alexis Monney.
Swiss World Cup leader Marco Odermatt was third fastest ahead of compatriot and Saturday's Olympic downhill champion Franjo von Allmen.
Franzoni, who was second in the individual downhill, will now urge on team-mate Alex Vinatzer in the slalom. Monney's slalom partner is Daniel Yule and Odermatt's is Loic Meillard, both of whom have significantly better World Cup slalom records than Vinatzer.
A female version is on Tuesday, the first women's race at the Games since Sunday's dramatic downhill which left US star Lindsey Vonn with a broken leg.
Category: General Sports
