BORMIO, Italy, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Mild-mannered Marco Odermatt once said he releases the beast within himself moments before the start of a ski race, and more often than not the 28-year-old Swiss becomes unbeatable.
On Saturday, however, the dominant force in men's Alpine skiing for the last five years was indeed tamed by teammate Franjo von Allmen as the Olympic downhill gold eluded him on the Stelvio.
After winning three of the six World Cup downhill races this season and finishing second in two others, he arrived in Bormio confident of winning the title he has prioritised since taking gold in the giant slalom at the Beijing Games.
Hundreds of Swiss fans had crossed the nearby border expecting to serenade the four-time World Cup overall winner to gold. Instead, it was the name of "Franjo" that echoed across the sunlit slopes of the quaint Italian town.
The fact that he came fourth behind von Allmen and Italian duo Giovanni Franzoni and Dominik Paris was almost incidental as the only colour medal Odermatt had wanted was gold.
"It's a fourth place, it's not what I was hoping for," Odermatt, who had briefly topped the leaderboard before von Allmen smashed his time by 0.70 seconds, said.
"I had a good feeling actually, I actually felt very good on the snow. I had a good run. But it was just not fast enough. Some friends, family are here. I would love to have a better result for them, but that's life."
Crestfallen as he was at missing out on victory on one of Alpine skiing's most famous slopes, Odermatt could still deliver multiple medals. He will ski the downhill leg of the combined event on Monday and then set his sights on the super-G and giant slalom next week.
Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, who won Olympic downhill gold in 2018 and who watched the race from Cortina where he is coaching American Lindsey Vonn, said he was not surprised that rising star von Allmen had won.
"I think he was the favourite for today basedon what he did last week (winning in Crans-Montana)," Svindal told reporters.
"You always feel for the guy in fourth in the Olympics but it's not like Marco hasn't won anything, right? I think he'll step it up and he also has great chances in two other events.
"I don't think he feels that sorry for himself either to be honest. He's good at bouncing back the next day."
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
