Swiss racer Franjo von Allmen captured the Olympic downhill Saturday to win the first gold medal at the Milan Cortina Games.

It took only one try for 24-year-old Franjo von Allmen to claim Olympic gold in the men's Alpine skiing downhill on Saturday as he eclipsed Swiss great and teammate Marco Odermatt.

The 24-year-old finished 0.20 seconds ahead of Italy’s Giovanni Franzoni, clocking 1 minute, 51.61 seconds as he tamed the 3.2km (2-mile) course which is renowned for its speed and technical difficult...