Vinatzer helps Italy shock Switzerland to win Team Parallel gold at World Championships

Alex Vinatzer (ITA/Atomic) put down an incredible last run of the night as Italy shocked 2019 champions Switzerland to win gold in the Team Parallel on the opening day of the 2025 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships.

Italy, who won bronze in 2019 in Are, had never previously appeared in the big final of a World Championships, and were not expected to beat a star-studded Swiss team vying for their second gold medal in this event.

But Giorgia Collomb (ITA/Rossignol) ripped up the script to beat Wendy Holdener (SUI/Head) in the first run of the big final, before Luca Aerni (SUI/Fischer) and Delphine Darbellay (SUI/Stöckli) made it 2-1 to Switzerland by beating Filippo Della Vite (ITA/Rossignol) and Lara Della Mea (ITA/Fischer) respectively.

That left it all down to the final run between Vinatzer and Thomas Tumler (SUI/Stöckli), who had bailed his team out with tight victories in the fourth run of the quarter-finals and semi-finals.

However, the final run of the night proved one too many for the experienced Tumler, who lost time late in the course. That allowed Vinatzer to put down an incredible run that saw him win by 0.61 of a second, handing the Italians overall victory by 0.45 seconds.

"It was an amazing start. We travelled a lot for this and we are super happy," Della Vite said.

"In the start we listened to 'Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao', all these Italian songs. It was really amazing."

Collomb added: "We love to be a team. It was a fight. I don't have words."

For Switzerland, it was their third medal in this event, with their 2019 gold medal coming after achieving bronze in 2007.

"It's a perfect start for us. We're happy. We fought, we did some mistakes but we never gave up and it's so nice to stand up there with the silver medal," said Holdener.

Italy's day had started with a 4-0 whitewash of Ukraine before going on to beat France 3-1 in the quarter-finals. However, it was their semi-final against Sweden that provided the most drama, as the Italians progressed by the smallest margin possible: one hundredth of a second.

Collomb had beaten Estelle Alphand (SWE/Head) on the third run to give the Italians a 2-1 lead ahead of the fourth run to be contested by Della Vite and Fabian Ax Swartz (SWE/Van Deer). Ax Swartz duly won, but with a time of 24.18 seconds, which was one hundredth of a second too slow.

Sweden recovered from the heartbreak of their semi-final loss to win the bronze medal by beating the United States of America in the small final.

It is Sweden's seventh medal in this event, making them the most decorated nation - one ahead of Austria who have six medals and missed out on fighting for a seventh when they lost their quarter-final to the Swedes earlier in the night.

"I would say we really did everything like a team together today. From the morning we had a good atmosphere and we just tried to give it all," said Sara Hector (SWE/Head), who beat Paula Moltzan (USA/Rossignol) by 0.07 in the small final.

"It's so cool to do it. I feel like everybody really was a big part of us standing here with a medal today, so that's also really cool."

Ax Swartz, who beat Isaiah Nelson (USA/Rossignol) to complete his side's 3-1 win in the small final, said: "It's big. It's my first World Champs and it couldn't have ended better in the first race.

"Great atmosphere and everything. To kick it off with a medal at the Team Parallel with the team is just amazing."

Switzerland's victory over USA in the semi-finals had come after the Americans dumped Norway out at the quarter-final stage.

Atle Lie McGrath (NOR/Head) and Thea Louise Stjernesund (NOR/Rossignol) had each started well in their respective runs against River Radamus (USA/Rossignol) and Nina O'Brien (USA/Rossignol), but the American athletes managed to recover impressively and beat the Norwegian pair to help secure a 3-1 victory.

"It's disappointing. The US were for sure really strong today," said McGrath, who will be hoping for better individual results in these World Championships.

"I'm a bit disappointed because I was ahead and then I made the mistake right at the finish line. It kind of sets a bad tone for the rest of it. Hopefully get the mistakes out of the way early."