As preparations intensify for the men's downhill at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Bormio, Italy, American Ryan Cochran-Siegle is drawing inspiration from Bode Miller's legendary 2005 performance on the Stelvio course. The 33-year-old skier posted the fastest time in Wednesday's training run and remains in contention despite a slower Thursday session. Italian skiers dominated the latest training, setting the pace ahead of Saturday's race.
The Stelvio course in Bormio, known for its challenging 3.3km length and high speeds up to 140 km/h, has been the site of intense training sessions leading into the Olympic men's downhill on Saturday. American Ryan Cochran-Siegle, a 2022 silver medalist with one World Cup victory—a super-G on Stelvio in 2020—led the first training run on Wednesday after a recent podium in Crans Montana. He spoke of revisiting Bode Miller's 2005 world championships downhill win there, noting, "That was like actually one of those legendary runs. Bodie as an athlete... set such a precedent for just reaching for the ultimate level."
Miller, the most successful U.S. male skier with 33 World Cup wins, four world titles, and a 2010 Olympic super combined gold, last won a downhill in Bormio in 2007. Cochran-Siegle, who idolized him, added, "I always grew up idolising him... he's so athletic, such a unique vision too." On Thursday, he opted for a more conservative run to avoid attention, saying, "There's a lot of outside noise... Hopefully, that's kind of tuned down... and just allowed me to go and focus."
Host nation Italy asserted dominance in the second training session under sunny conditions, with Mattia Casse clocking the fastest time of 1:52.85 despite missing a gate, followed by Florian Schieder (0.45 seconds back) and Giovanni Franzoni (0.87 back). Schieder remarked, "It was so much fun to go down there." Favorites like Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, the World Cup leader in downhill and super-G, finished 23rd while testing lines and skis, stating, "I feel good... If I show my good skiing, I know I can win some medals."
Incidents underscored the course's dangers: Austria's Daniel Hemetsberger crashed midway, hitting nets at high speed and sustaining facial injuries, while France's Nils Alphand trained with a strapped wrist injury from Wednesday, finishing 31st but vowing to compete. A final training run is set for Friday before the race awards the first Alpine skiing medal of the Games.
