BORMIO, Italy (Jan. 29) - World Cup leader Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) got the 2005 World Alpine Ski Championships off to a roaring start Saturday, overcoming a mid-race miscue to win the gold medal in super G - the third world title, fourth World Championships medal in his career.

Miller BIG in Bormio, one medal down - seven to go for U.S. Ski Team (credit: Agence Zoom)

Miller, who started 27th, won his first World Cup super G earlier this season at Lake Louise, Alberta, tore down the 2K sun-speckled Stelvio run to win in 1:27.55, shattering an Austrian bid to sweep the medals podium. The first skier to win the first three events of any World Cup season, Miller, who has won more Olympics and Worlds medals than any other U.S. skier, became the first American to win three World Championships gold medals and tied Tamara McKinney with four medals; McKinney, the 1989 combined gold medalist, also won combined bronzes in 1985 and '87 plus slalom bronze in '89.

Michael Walchhofer was silver medalist Saturday in 1:27.69 with Benjamin Raich third (1:28.23). Hermann Maier, who tied with Miller for SG silver in 2003, was fourth.

Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA), the 2001 super G world champion, was 10th with Scott Macartney (Redmond, WA) - the U.S. flagbearer Friday night at Opening Ceremonies - finishing 28th. Dane Spencer (Boise, ID) was 33rd.

Miller: "Sometimes..."
It marked the third straight World Championships in which a U.S. skier has medaled in the opening men's race; Rahlves won the super G at St. Anton, Austria, in 2001 while Miller and Maier deadlocked two years ago for silver (behind Austrian Stephan Eberharter) in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Mistakes didn't slow this World super G champion (credit: Agence Zoom)

"Sometimes you win medals with good skiing and sometimes you win medals with bad skiing," Miller told a press conference. "Today it was a mix."

He called the course "one of the easiest super Gs we've ever run because of the snow conditions. It's a lot easier than most..."

He said the conditions meant skiers could be aggressive, planting a sharp ski edge in the snow on turns, helping them gain speed.

Course reports and watching starters on television while at the start didn't have much influence on his skiing, the Carrabassett Valley Academy (ME) graduate said. "It's so hard to tell. The camera angles are really deceiving." He and Raich, Miller said, "We're used to trusting our own judgment."

Miller: Athletes don't rank medals
However, he scoffed at any notion - when asked by a European journalist where this medal ranked - if it was more special than any other. "It's a luxury we, as athletes, have to just accept it as a great day." Then he added playfully and with a grin, leaning over as if he were laying them side by side, "I...rank...it...fourth..."

Miller (center) upsets the Austrian sweep (credit: Agence Zoom)

Head Coach Phil McNichol, flashing a big smile when a friend told him, "You out-coached a lot of guys today," said, "I haven't seen Bode as disappointed in himself as he was over the past few races, that shows he would come here and be motivated and push to have to surpass even what he is capable of...

"I only see a snapshot of the race, and he was [unhappy] when I saw him in the finish because of his mistake but I told him I only saw some great skiing through my section."

Coaches see Rahlves anxious to atone in DH
McNichol added, "It would have been nice to see 'D' [Rahlves] up there on the podium, too, but it wasn't to be. ... But this will make him come out like fire and brimstone for the downhill" next Friday. "I'm pretty happy to start the week this way."

Rahlves set to fly in downhill (credit: Agence Zoom)

DH/SG Head Coach John McBride said, "It's kind of bittersweet - so great for Bode, disappointing for Mr. Rahlves, but I think he'll come back for downhill with some fire in his eye. I think it was a combination of the snow being so aggressive, and 'D' never found his flow and timing. It's definitely different than the rock-hard, icy snow of a Kitzbuehel [Austria] super G" where Rahlves was second last Monday.

The terrain in Bormio was "more moderate and there aren't any super difficult turns, and the snow was consistent from top to bottom," he said.

The championships continue Sunday with women's super G. Four U.S. women will race - Lindsey Kildow (Vail, CO), Kirsten Clark (Raymond, ME), Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) and Caroline Lalive (Steamboat Springs, CO). The men have three days of downhill training runs scheduled to start Monday with their next race the combined on Thursday.

2005 WORLD ALPINE SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bormio, ITA - Jan. 29
Men's Super G
1. Bode Miller, Franconia, N.H., 1:27.55
2. Michael Walchhofer, Austria, 1:27.69
3. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 1:28.23
4. Hermann Maier, Austria, 1:28.40
5. Marco Buechel, Liechtenstein, 1:25.61
-
10. Daron Rahlves, Sugar Bowl, Calif., 1:29.25
28. Scott Macartney, Redmond, Wash., 1:30.32
33. Dane Spencer, Boise, Idaho, 1:30.70

For complete results:
http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/1228.html?event_id=15839&cal_suchsector=AL

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