Miller Second in Kvitfjell DH No. 1
KVITFJELL, Norway (Feb. 29) - Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, NH) extended his lead in the overall World Cup standings Friday finishing second in the first of two downhills on the 1994 Olympic hill and extending his lead in the overall World Cup standings. Steven Nyman (Provo, UT) was 14th and Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) crashed, but was uninjured. Italian Werner Heel won the race for his career first World Cup podium.
Miller finished a .10 off the victory as Heel posted a winning time of 1:45.73 on the Olympiabakken course. It was a rescheduled downhill cancelled earlier this month from Val d'Isere, France, site of the 2009 FIS Alpine World Championships.
"It was a pretty good day," said Speed Head Coach Chris Brigham. "Steven skied the top really well and had a little difficulty on the bottom, but we'll take a look at the video and figure it out. Marco's a little banged up, but he'll be good to go for tomorrow. It was a great day for Bode getting 80 points to put some more room on Raich."
The podium moved Miller closer to overtaking World Cup downhill points leader Didier Cuche of Switzerland, who was sixth. It also boosted his lead to 125 points in the World Cup overall chase as Austrian Benni Raich failed to score after finishing outside the top 30.
Miller is now just 25 points behind Cuche in the downhill standings with 479 to Cuche's 504. With nine races remaining in the season, Miller has 1,183 points with 1,058 for Raich.
"I skied pretty well in sections, but was a little back," said Nyman, "It's only my second year here, so there's still some learning to do. I just need to nail the line and move over the terrain a bit better. The airs are pretty big too, we're getting 60 meters of air off the Russi jump - it's got some hops to it.
"The snow is good, the hill is fantastic and we got to run out of the top this year. Last year we had to start lower. I'm psyched we've got another run at it tomorrow."
Sullivan, who won the previous downhill in Chamonix, France, for his first World Cup victory said he's a little bruised, but will be ready to race on Saturday. Despite the fall, Sullivan remained fourth in the World Cup downhill standings with two DH's left on the calendar.
"I had a good run going, then I came off the first jump and hit some bumpy snow and got a little rattled, which pulled me low. Then I came over the next rise and the gate was right in front of me. My outside ski just hooked it and I took it right on the shin, it knocked me on the ground and I tumbled into the fence.
"I've got a big ol' ice bag on it now, but I should be ready to go tomorrow," he said.
U.S. men will have another crack at downhill on Saturday before switching to super G skis on Sunday, the last speed races before World Cup Finals March 12-16 in Bormio, Italy.
|