Switzerland's Franjo von Allmen claimed the first gold medal of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics as he blasted to victory in the men's downhill on Saturday.

After a glittering opening ceremony in Milan and in venues across the Italian Alps on Friday, all eyes were trained on the most prestigious of all the alpine skiing events in Bormio.

In bright sunshine, Von Allmen mastered the fearsome Stelvio course while Marco Odermatt, his Swiss teammate and the pre-race favourite, could only finish fourth.

The 24-year-old barely put a ski off line as he blazed down the sunlit piste at speeds of near 140 kph to win in 1:51.61, smashing Odermatt's mark by 0.70 seconds.

"It feels like a movie, it's crazy," Von Allmen said after claiming the first gold medal of the Milano Cortina Games in front of hundreds of Swiss fans who had crossed the nearby border armed with flags and cow bells.

"I felt relaxed in the morning and tried to keep the good feeling from the training runs and fit all the pieces together."

Von Allmen denied the host nation a first gold by finishing ahead of Italian pair Giovanni Franzoni and Dominik Paris.

Odermatt was left wondering what could have been.

The 28-year-old has dominated men's Alpine skiing for half a decade and was favourite to deliver Swiss gold in the blue-riband event and add to his giant slalom gold at the 2022 Games.

"I actually felt very good on the snow, on the slope, I had a good run," the World Cup leader said.

"I don't know what I would change right now if I could do it again.

"It was just not fast enough." (Agencies)