È incredibile
Italian Giovanni Franzoni has won the Hahnenkamm Downhill title, celebrating another emotional victory amid what has become the most challenging period of his life. Marco Odermatt and Maxence Muzaton finished second and third, respectively.
How much the past months have weighed on Giovanni Franzoni (24) is evident in every interview he gives. The death of his close friend Matteo Franzoso, who died after a training accident in Chile in September, has changed him – mentally and perhaps physically too. It is true that Franzoni had previously competed mainly in the Europa Cup, but there is more to the story: until this season, he had achieved only a handful of top-ten finishes in the World Cup, with very few standout results.
Although Franzoni made his World Cup debut in 2020, he seldom achieved top rankings. The man from Brescia made his breakthrough last December in the Super-G in Val Gardena with a podium finish. His greatest success to date came on 16 January, when he celebrated his first World Cup victory in the Lauberhorn Super-G in Wengen – a historic triumph just a few weeks before the Olympic Games.
On 24 January, he reached what is, for the time being, the peak of his career: Giovanni Franzoni won the Downhill Race on the legendary Streif at the Hahnenkamm Race in Kitzbühel. He narrowly beat Marco Odermatt, winning by just 7 hundredths of a second.
‘I thought of him again at the start,’ says Giovanni Franzoni in an interview with the Austrian broadcasting station ORF, referring to Matteo Franzoso, who was like a big brother to him. ‘I wish so much that he could be here with me. I race for him,’ he continues, fighting back tears. ‘What happened here today is incredible and so emotional.’ When his victory on the Streif was finally confirmed, he could no longer hold back his tears.
Tears are likely to flow again in the next few hours. At 18:30 hrs, the Award Ceremony will take place at the Red Bull Finish House, attended by tens of thousands of fans, before the next great chapter awaits in February: the 2026 Olympic Games on Italian home soil in Bormio.
Photo © K.S.C./shootmeup!
