The China Mail - Von Allmen storms to downhill win in final Olympic tune-up

The reigning world champion blew away his rivals with a barnstorming run that was 0.65sec quicker than the rest of the field, triumphing at the Swiss resort for the second successive year.

"I really like the slope. It's pretty easy to ski but not easy to be fast, so I was impressed by myself that it was even that fast," Von Allmen told Eurosport.

Italy's Dominik Paris took a distant second place with American Ryan Cochran-Siegle, 0.70sec behind, completing the podium.

Overall World Cup leader Marco Odermatt stretched his mammoth advantage in the standings to 587 points after finishing fourth.

Von Allmen's victory is his second of the season and fifth of his career. The 24-year-old also won a downhill at Val Gardena in December.

It also sealed a weekend sweep for the host nation following Malorie Blanc's win in the women's super-G on Saturday, to help lift spirits in Crans-Montana one month after a deadly bar fire that killed 41 people and injured 116 others.

For the experienced Paris it was his best performance of the winter and a timely boost before the Olympics that open on February 6.

"I had a really good run but maybe the start was not perfect," said the 36-year-old who is set for his fifth Olympics.

"I knew Franjo is hard to beat, he's really fast on this terrain, but I beat Odi (Odermatt) today and that's good for my confidence."

Von Allmen will make his Olympic debut next week in Bormio, where the alpine skiing action kicks off with the men's downhill on February 7.

"It gives me a lot of confidence and I'll try to also show my best skiing in Bormio," said Von Allmen.

Y.Su--ThChM