Italy's Giacomo Pierbon won the men's downhill skiing event at the Winter Deaflympics ©Deaflympics 2019

Alpine skier Giacomo Pierbon delighted the home crowd by winning the men's downhill gold medal at the Winter Deaflympics in Italian town Sondrio today.

Pierbon clocked a time of 1 min 9.26sec on the Deborah Compagnoni slope.

Russia's Pavel Kazakov was runner-up in 1:10.07, while Austria's Lukas Kaefer came third in 1:11.48.

In the women's downhill, Russia's Elena Yakovishina triumphed in 1:10.89.

Russia's Elena Yakovishina topped the women's downhill podium ©Deaflympics 2019
Russia's Elena Yakovishina topped the women's downhill podium ©Deaflympics 2019

Czech Republic's Tereza Kmochová took the silver medal in 1:12.61, while the bronze went to Croatia's Rea Hraski in 1:14.43.

The first medals were also awarded today in cross-country skiing at Pista Sci di Fondo - Ski Stadium.

In the women's five kilometres event, Russia's Anna Fedulova prevailed in 15:02.0 and was followed in the standings by compatriot Lyubov Misharina in 15:04.9 and Ukraine's Yelizaveta Nopriienko in 15:46.14.

The men's 10km competition saw Ukraine's Dmytro Mazhaiev claim victory in 26:37.90, ahead of Russians Vladimir Mayorov and Maksim Kovalev in 27:40.80 and 27:59.30, respectively.