2026 Olympic Men's Alpine Skiing Downhill Preview & Prediction
Updated July 9, 2026
The men’s downhill skiing competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina is set for February 7 on the iconic Stelvio slope in Bormio. This single-run event pits the world’s fastest downhill specialists against a course that rewards both fearless aggression and elite technique. The recent World Cup season has offered a clear indication of form, and I'll break that down and make my Olympic men's alpine skiing downhill prediction below.
Below are the latest betting odds for the men’s downhill medal markets at the 2026 Winter Olympics:
One of the most important stories ahead of this Olympic downhill competition is the continued dominance of Marco Odermatt. The Swiss star enters the race as the favorite, having led the World Cup downhill standings by a sizable margin and winning multiple speed events this season. He is widely seen as the benchmark against which other contenders are measured.
Franjo von Allmen, also from Switzerland, has emerged the top challenger to his countryman. He claimed victory in the final downhill World Cup before the Olympics and has shown he is capable of beating the best when he’s on form. The fact that teammates can share line insights while still guarding their final race secrets adds an extra layer of intrigue to this race for those two men.
Italian speed ace Dominik Paris will be racing on home soil here. A multiple-time winner on Stelvio throughout his career, Paris knows the twists and demands of this course like few others. His pedigree on fast, steep terrain makes him a dangerous candidate for the podium.
Another rising storyline is Giovanni Franzoni’s breakthrough season. The young Italian has a World Cup downhill win and multiple podiums, and his confidence is high. Meanwhile, Canada’s Ryan Cochran-Siegle has shown he can medal on his best days, earning a podium in Crans-Montana just weeks before the Olympics.
Austrian veteran Vincent Kriechmayr has the experience and speed to crash the podium, especially if conditions favor seasoned skiers who are comfortable in variable snow and wind conditions. Other figures, such as Alexis Monney and emerging names like Mattia Casse and Cameron Alexander, complete a field with plenty of potential dark horses.
Pick: Marco Odermatt to win gold ATS PRO
Confidence: 3 out of 5
Marco Odermatt’s consistency across the downhill season is hard to overstate. Few athletes in recent memory have entered an Olympic downhill carrying such a comprehensive body of work. His ability to bring both speed and precision to the mountain has translated into multiple World Cup wins this winter, including victories on some of the sport’s most demanding courses. That level of form cannot be overlooked heading into a single-run Olympic final where every fraction of a second matters.
For bettors, a wager on Odermatt is the best move as far as I'm concerned, thanks to his proven form and ability to handle unpredictable conditions. There is value in considering an exacta-style bet for the Swiss duo, given their proximity in recent results and their ability to communicate with one another to have mutual success. But Odermatt’s combination of downhill mastery, consistency, and peak performance positions him as the most logical pick for Olympic downhill gold.
Jay Sanin is the GM and Head of Sports at ATS.io. He has been writing about sports gambling since 2013, handicapping tens of thousands of sporting events. He plays sides and totals aggressively across most sports and is more selective in player prop markets. He does his own modeling across most sports, and his family is jealous of how much time he spends on his precious spreadsheets.
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