BORMIO, Italy — Italian skiers showcased their formidable prowess during Thursday’s second downhill training session for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, dominating the leaderboard while Austrian competitor Daniel Hemetsberger suffered a dramatic high-speed crash on the challenging Stelvio course.
Mattia Casse recorded the fastest time despite missing a gate midway through his descent, demonstrating both speed and technical vulnerability. His teammates Florian Schieder and Giovanni Franzoni secured second and third positions respectively, reinforcing Italy’s strong collective performance on their home snow.
Franzoni, who recently achieved a breakthrough victory in Kitzbühel, Austria, has already secured his Olympic starting position alongside veteran Dominik Paris—Bormio’s record-holder with seven World Cup wins. The session served as a critical qualification opportunity for Casse, Schieder, and Christof Innerhofer (who finished seventh) as they compete for the team’s final two starting spots.
Meanwhile, pre-race favorites including Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt and American Ryan Cochran-Siegle—Wednesday’s training leader—adopted conservative approaches, testing selective sections of the course while frequently exiting their aerodynamic tuck positions to conserve energy for the main event.
The session’s most concerning moment occurred when Hemetsberger lost control at high velocity, rotated violently, and crashed through a gate with sufficient force to dislodge his helmet. The Austrian skier subsequently collided with safety netting before rising unaided while visibly clutching his facial area.
Organizers have scheduled a final training session for Friday ahead of Saturday’s medal race, which will award the first Alpine skiing gold of the 2026 Winter Olympics.