Former Ski and Snowboard Club skier Kyle Negomir leads U.S. team in Olympic downhill

One thing is for sure: Kyle Negomir enjoyed his Olympic debut.

“That was a blast,” the 27-year-old Ski and Snowboard Club Vail alumni said after leading Team USA in the downhill final on Saturday morning in Italy. “I think that was the most fun any of us will have skiing Bormio. And to have a show like this where, you know, you have such a big audience to show what we’ve spent the last 25 years perfecting is super special.”

Negomir surged from bib 27 to 10th, leading four U.S. starters into the top-20. He sat in 20th after the second sector but cruised through the speed trap at 98.85 kilometers per hour, seventh best in the field. While other athletes’ quads screamed from lactic acid intoxication over La Konta, Negomir navigated the Stelvio slope’s final feature en route to the seventh-best sixth sector.

“I annoy myself with how long I take in inspection, but I really just try to have a plan that’s dialed in enough so I can make a conscious effort to forget about the plan when I’m at the top and just focus on the skiing,” Negomir said. “And sort of trust I’ve put in the work in inspection and video to know where I need to go when I get there but not actually have to think about it.”

Franjo von Allmen of Switzerland won gold in his Olympic debut while Italians Franzoni Giovanni and Paris Dominik picked up the silver and bronze, respectively.

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“What happens today, I’ll take it. I’m super happy. It feels like kind of a movie,” said von Allmen, whose father died suddenly when the skier was 17. A year later — after contemplating quitting the sport altogether — von Allmen made the highly-competitive Swiss national team.

“I thought a lot about him today,” the 24-year-old defending downhill world champion said. The Swiss star’s time on the 3,442-meter long course was 1 minute, 51.61 seconds, two tenths ahead of Giovanni and half a second clear of Paris. Negomir was 1.59 seconds off the gold-medal standard.

Paris, known as the “King of Bormio,” has won a record seven times (six downhill and one super-G) between 2012 and 2021 on his home track. Despite losing time in the final sector, the 36-year-old was able to nudge four-time defending overall crystal globe winner Marco Odermatt off the podium.

“I tried so long and so hard and having this success, with a home crowd, on a course that is my favorite — it means a lot,” Paris told FIS. “I think San Pietro and the last split was not so good. I tried to push but had to hold the line and was maybe not aggressive enough. But I was skiing well, had really good sensations and it was really fun to ski today.”

Bryce Bennett came through as the second American, 0.25 behind Negomir. The 33-year-old was emotional in a post-race broadcast interview after his third and final Olympic downhill race.

“You put your life into it,” he said before thanking his wife and daughter, who were at the finish. “The sacrifice they make is tough.”

Defending super-G silver medalist Ryan Cochran-Siegle finished 18th for the U.S. After winning the training run three days prior, the Vermont native said he “probably didn’t bring enough intensity (and) power” to the course on Saturday.

“The slope is definitely different, in a really good way though. I mean, way more consistent snow, a lot more freedom in what you could do,” he said. “Definitely even just the light — it’s such a big difference from when we ski here in December.”

Sam Morse rounded out the American contingent with a 19th-place result in his first Olympic race. The Mainer described his debut as “a dream come true.”

“In the start, trying to not let the Olympic nerves get to me, I was just repeating, ‘your skiing is enough.’ Like, don’t try to do anything magical or push beyond yourself because often that’s when big mistakes come,” Morse said. “Just ski solid, execute the plan and then dig deep at the bottom when your legs get tired was kind of the focus. I was really happy with this.” 

The men’s alpine ski program continues with the team combined event on Monday. The event adds together times from one downhill athlete and another slalom starter to determine the winner. After Saturday’s race, the U.S. pairing is likely to feature two Ski and Snowboard Club Vail alumni.

“I think Nego (Kyle Negomir) will probably get the spot for combined with River (Radamus),” Cochran-Siegle said.