Bode blues

[Ski]

from Eurosport

 

 

 

United States Alpine ski team director Jesse Hunt has defended Bode Miller after he left the World Championships in Are without a medal.

 

The 29-year-old former World Cup champion has appeared at his ragged worst during the two weeks and made headlines in the Swedish press as a party animal rather than as an athlete.

 

In Saturday's slalom he skied out in the first run, ending his bid to become the first man to win world championship golds in all five disciplines.

 

Miller, the 2003 world champion in giant slalom and combined and 2005 super-G and downhill champion, produced a sloppy run.

 

He skied too far from the gates and was already more than a second behind the leader and eventual winner Mario Matt before he finally slipped out.

 

On Wednesday, after a decent first run in the giant slalom where he was sixth and 0.48 seconds behind the leader, Miller had an embarrassingly bad second run to finish 15th.

 

He was even worse in the opening super-G, finishing 24th.

 

In the super-combined Miller showed promise as he took the lead with the fastest time in the opening downhill but he finished sixth with a cautious, error-ridden slalom run. That was his best resulte.

 

In trying to defend his downhill title he proved unlucky as he was one of the skiers who were clearly distracted by foggy patches on the slope and he finished seventh.

 

Miller's performance here has echoed events at the Turin Winter Olympics a year ago when the much-hyped American's best result was fifth in the downhill and he was criticised for his late-night party habits.

 

As he did in Turin, Miller has assiduously avoided the media here but McNicol spoke up for him.

 

"If you look at it here he had a great top split in the downhill and he won the downhill section of the combined with a great run," Hunt said.

 

"Then he got a finish in the slalom which he was pleased about because he hasn't been able to finish many."

 

Since January 24 last year, Miller has completed only one slalom race in 11 starts at major international events.

 

"In the giant slalom he had a good first run and had a good chance for a podium," said Hunt.

 

"He wants to bring back his slalom and he wants to have that feeling again."

 

With a month to go on the World Cup, which resumes on Friday, Miller is fourth in the overall standings, 140 points behind leader Aksel Lund Svindal, and leads the super-G standings.

[Glenn]

I'm not trying to start a flame... just an honest question. How is the title of this thread not giving away race results?

[Ski]

I'm not trying to start a flame... just an honest question. How is the title of this thread not giving away race results?

 

Great question...the final feed, other than the team event, was complete more than 24 hrs before posting. All I've asked was for a day or two to pass.

[First Grade Teacher]

Great question...the final feed, other than the team event, was complete more than 24 hrs before posting. All I've asked was for a day or two to pass.

 

Ski is within Ski's specs. Whatever those specs are?

[Ski]

I learned how to quickly convert Central European Time over the last two weeks.