International Capsules: Miller avoids crash, impresses Klammer in Austria
KITZBUEHEL, Austria (AP) — Bode Miller got a slap on the back from Austrian great Franz Klammer after narrowly escaping a crash on the famed Streif course.
Miller didn't get his first victory at the classic World Cup downhill on Saturday, but he got style points for a save at 80 mph.
The 34-year-old Miller caught an icy bump at the Hausbergkante, one of the most challenging parts of the course. It hit one of his skis so badly that it almost came off.
"Going across the Hausberg and your ski goes like that," Miller told The Associated Press, "it feels a lot worse than it looked" on the TV screen for a crowd of about 25,000.
"Those are life-savers," he said. "One hundred points is great, but I always try to be at the finish with all my parts intact. That was obviously, in some ways, better than a win, so I am happy."
Miller quickly reacted and found his balance, but lost speed. He finished 29th, 1.35 seconds behind Didier Cuche of Switzerland, who won a record fifth time on the course. Cuche overtook Klammer, who won the Hahnenkamm downhill four times in the 1970s and 80s.
The Austrian great congratulated Cuche and met Miller after he safely made it through the finish.
"People like to see this as much as they want to see a victory," Klammer told the American.
Miller said it was a close call.
"My ski almost came all the way off," he said. "You can feel it when it comes out of your binding like that. It almost came off all the way, then kicked back in."
Miller's had other spectacular escapes on the Streif.
Four years ago, he was thrown wide in a long right turn and avoided a crash by riding the fence with both skis before getting back on the course — and finishing in second place.
This time, Miller was fighting the conditions, which worsened during the race with increased snowfall. The starting point on the course had already be significantly lowered, shortening it from 3.3 kilometers to 2.
"These were less-than-ideal conditions. I was pushing pretty hard, I knew I had to take some risks," Miller said.
He agreed with the decision to stage the race after the super-G was canceled Friday to avoid damage to the course.
"It's not dangerous, it's just dangerous the way downhill is," Miller said. "The visibility is OK, considering the light. They took all the teeth out of the course. And people want to see a race. It's worth it."
Cuche wins record fifth WCup downhill; Miller 29th
KITZBUEHEL, Austria (AP) — Didier Cuche of Switzerland used his last visit to the Streif on Saturday to earn a record fifth victory on one of the World Cup's most challenging downhill courses. Bode Miller nearly crashed on an icy bump and finished 29th.
Cuche, who announced his retirement at the end of the season two days ago, overtook Austrian great Franz Klammer, who won the Hahnenkamm downhill four times in the 1970s and 80s.
"That record was my final thought before I left the start gate," Cuche said. "Somehow it helped me to relax a bit and to enjoy my run."
Cuche went down the mountain in 1 minute, 13.28 seconds in heavy snowfall to beat Austrian pair Romed Baumann and Klaus Kroell by 0.24 and 0.30 seconds, respectively.
In the finish area, Klammer was among the first to congratulate his Swiss successor.
"Cuche is now the Emperor of Kitzbuehel, I can live with that," said the 58-year-old Klammer, before joking, "I think he should have quit already before this season."
The snowfall became heavier during the race and slowed late starters. Many of the pre-race favorites battled with the conditions.
Cuche's teammate Beat Feuz finished 0.45 back in sixth to stay on top of the discipline standings with 300 points, leading Cuche by 23.
Miller barely avoided a crash in the icy lower section of the course, finishing 1.35 seconds behind the winner.
"These were less than ideal conditions," Miller said. "But it's no fluke that Didier won. For me, I was pushing pretty hard, I knew I had to take some risks."
Miller was relieved by his quick reactions.
"It feels good to make a save like that," he said. "Those are life-savers. One hundred points is great, but I always try to be at the finish with all my parts intact."
Cuche did not post the fastest intermediate times but chose the right line at the Hausbergkante for his trademark fast finish, which has earned him victory in four of the past five years.
"I lost the line several times but I got it just right in the final section," he said.
Cuche, who also won the first downhill of the season in November in Lake Louise, Canada, has 11 victories in the discipline and 19 overall.
After days of warm weather featuring heavy rain and wet snow, a 500-man crew worked through the night to get the fresh snow off the mountain.
But an hour before the start, an overhanging cloud cover and snowfall setting in again forced organizers to lower the starting gate to shorten the 3.3-kilometer course to 2 kilometers.
"It was not easy to race," Baumann said. "Your visibility was hampered by snow on your goggles. On such a shortened course, you can't allow yourself to make any mistake."
Baumann led Cuche by 0.25 at the last intermediate time but was not able to match the Swiss skier's outstanding finish, losing almost half a second there.
Kroell dropped behind Cuche earlier in the race, struggling in the middle part of the course.
"That's where I lost the race, but a podium in Kitzbuehel always makes you happy," Kroell said. "It's incredible what Cuche has done. It's maybe good for me, but a bummer for ski racing that he is not going to race here anymore."
-- Eric Willemsen
Worley wins World Cup giant slalom, Vonn fourth
KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP) — Tessa Worley of France won a World Cup giant slalom on Saturday after first-run leader Elisabeth Goergl of Austria crashed at the bottom of the second run.
World Cup leader Lindsey Vonn finished fourth, just missing the podium by three-hundredths of a second despite a spectacular recovery to prevent a crash near the end of the race.
"I skied the top well, but it was very bumpy at the bottom," Vonn said. "I did my best, but it just wasn't good enough for first."
Worley clocked 2 minutes, 3.02 seconds down the course to beat Federica Brignone of Italy, who finished in 2:03.58. Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany was third in 2:03.91.
Tina Maze, the home favorite and reigning world champion, finished fifth. Vonn increased her lead in the overall standings to 296 points ahead of Maze.
Vonn, who won her first giant slalom in the season opener in October, had two solid runs in her generally weakest event. However, she needed to put her hand on the snow a few gates from the finish to steady herself and lost time.
Worley trailed Goergl at the end of the first run, and it looked as if the Austrian was going to push her all the way before falling shortly before the finish line.
A perfect second run ensured Worley finished more than a half-second ahead of Brignone to claim her sixth World Cup victory and first in more than a year. All her triumphs have come in the giant slalom.
"It was a tough race but fun," Worley said. "The snow was great, but it was difficult and very technical. It was a pretty short run, so you needed to be at top tempo from start to finish."
Rebensburg had a fantastic second run to make up lost time after finishing seventh in the first, 0.88 seconds off the pace.
Kathrin Zettel of Austria, who won the giant slalom and the slalom in 2010, finished ninth after a poor second run.
The event was scheduled for Maribor but moved because of lack of snow. Last year's event was canceled because of weather.
A slalom will be held Sunday, with 16-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin in the event. She finished third in the Lienz slalom in December.
-- Daniella Matar
After chemo, Burton says cancer is 'toast'
Snowboard industry pioneer Jake Burton says his chemotherapy treatment for testicular cancer has worked.
"It appears my cancer is toast," the 57-year-old Burton said in an update he sent to his employees this week.
In September, Burton was diagnosed with cancer and said he faced three months of therapy.
He told his employees the treatment was successful and though there could be other procedures down the road, including radiation or surgery, it was all of a "clean-up" nature.
In the late 1970s, Burton quit his job in New York to try to build popularity for the little-known pastime of snowboarding, which was mostly frowned upon at mountain resorts.
He built a multimillion-dollar business and gets much credit for bringing the sport to the masses. Snowboarding joined the Olympics in 1998.
Germany's Arndt wins two-man bobsled World Cup
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — Maximilian Arndt of Germany got his first victory in a two-man bobsled World Cup on Saturday to close the gap on overall leader Beat Hefti of Switzerland.
Arndt and brakeman Marko Huebenbecker edged Hefti and Thomas Lamparter by 0.16 seconds, winning in a combined two-run 2 minutes 14.51 seconds.
Manuel Machata and Andreas Bredau of Germany placed third and American pilot Steven Holcomb and brakeman Steven Langton were fourth.
The U.S. team moved three places to third in the overall standings. Arndt got 225 World Cup points for victory, and trails Hefti by 107 with two races remaining. Holcomb is 220 behind Hefti.
Lambert and Xu win aerials at Placid
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (AP) — Thomas Lambert and Renato Ulrich of Switzerland topped the men's field and Mengtao Xu claimed her second gold medal in two nights to lead another Chinese sweep of the women's podium in World Cup aerials competition on Saturday.
Lambert finished with 119.4 points at the Olympic Jumping Complex, just ahead of Ulrich's 116.48 total. Petr Medulich of Russia took the bronze with 104.49 points.
Xu finished with 96.58 points to edge Shuang Cheng's total of 94.47 points. Fanyu Kong took the bronze with 82.94 points.
Dylan Ferguson and Emily Cook each finished eighth for the U.S. team.
Kowalczyk, Cologna win World Cup sprints
OTEPAA, Estonia (AP) — Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland edged Marit Bjoergen of Norway to win a 1.2-kilometer classic cross-country World Cup race.
Kowalczyk kept her lead throughout Saturday's race before finishing 0.1 seconds ahead of the World Cup leader in 3 minutes, 18.4 seconds. Russia's Natalia Matveeva took third, 0.9 seconds back.
In the men's 1.4-kilometer event, Dario Cologna of Switzerland finished 0.3 seconds in front of Norway's Ola Vigen Hattestad after clocking 3:29.8.
Eirik Brandsdal of Norway was third.
Austrian wins 39th World Cup ski jump
ZAKOPANE, Poland (AP) — Gregor Schlierenzauer of Austria sealed his 39th World Cup ski jump victory on Saturday.
He finished with 300.3 points after making jumps of 131.5 and 132 meters on the large hill. Richard Freitag of Germany finished 3.5 points behind him with 296.8 points after two leaps of 131 meters. Anders Bardal of Norway was third.
Speedskating
American Davis grabs World Cup gold in men's 1,000
KEARNS, Utah (AP) — Shani Davis had plenty of doubts entering Saturday's World Cup speed skating races. With a capacity crowd cheering him on, the two-time Olympic gold medalist showed everyone he still has it.
Davis won his first World Cup gold medal of the season, capturing the 1,000 at the long track event at Utah Olympic oval in 1 minute, 7.20 seconds.
"It's just nice because the beginning of the season was rough, a really slow start," said Davis, whose best finish this season in the 1,000 had been fourth.
"I had a lot of doubt coming into this competition, but drew a lot of energy from the crowd. I've never seen so many people out here cheering for speed skating. I just tried my best not only for myself, but for the people out there cheering."
While Davis gained momentum heading into next weekend's World Sprint Championships in Calgary, Canada's Christine Nesbitt continued her dominance.
She remained unbeaten at 1,000 meters in World Cup races this season, winning Saturday in 1:13.36. She edged American Heather Richardson, who skated a pair of personal bests to claim silver in the 1,000 (1:13.99) and bronze in the 500 (37.58).
Canada picked up a silver when Denny Morrison took second (1:07.39) in the men's 1,000. Stefan Groothuis of The Netherlands was third (1:07.45). Ireen Wust of The Netherlands took bronze in the women's 1,000 (1:14.51).
The biggest surprise was Richardson, who was on the podium twice Saturday after not making it all season.
"This is the first time I've won two. I'm happy with it," she said.
She attributed her slow start this season to surgery last fall to repair a torn lateral meniscus in her right knee.
"It was achy all through the fall World Cup season," she said. "Just now, (at national) trials in December is when it felt good. After trials, everything just went up from there."
She said it also helped to skate on home ice, with 4,000 fans cheering her on.
"I think it does have a lot to do with comfort," Richardson said.
Richardson edged Nesbitt by .01 seconds for her bronze medal. They skated in the same heat.
"It was a good race, and (I felt) really positive going into the 1,000," Richardson said.
Nesbitt, though, was just too good.
"Everyone is just trying to get to her level now," Richardson said of Nesbitt. "Hopefully that happens also."
American Brittany Bowe, a World Cup rookie who is making the jump from in-line skating and four years as a Division I point guard, took fifth in the 1,000. She skated a personal-best 1:14.87.
"I did better today than I had anticipated," said Bowe, who first gained inspiration to be an Olympian after watching the 2002 Games in Utah 10 years ago. "Each race just keeps getting better and better."
Bowe, a 1,000-point scorer at Florida Atlantic University, missed the podium by 0.36 seconds.
"A few 10ths is a snap of the snap of the hands," she said.
"The closer I get, the hungrier I get."
Perhaps no one is more motivated than Davis. Two years after the Olympics is a time to experiment for the U.S. team, and Davis has done just that, trying different workout routines in the summer and fall.
"You can't always do the same things," Davis said. "You'll get the same results. Even though those results are good in the past, it's my duty and obligation to try new things. Right now I'm headed in the right direction."
He hopes he can carry the momentum into Calgary and the rest of the World Cup season.
"It's good to prove to myself I still have the competitive fire and spirit in my body, and when I'm faced with a challenge and things don't go my way, I don't give up, I come back as strong as I can," Davis said.
As for others doubting him, he said, "It's good to show them today I'm here, I'm skating well and I'm skating fast."
He was just as excited to see the 2002 Olympic venue filled to capacity on a rainy, cold day in Utah. He raised his arms in triumph after crossing the finish and again as he took in the cheers on a victory lap.
"It was an emotional moment," Davis said. "I was happy I didn't start crying out there."
In earlier races Saturday, Lee Sang-Hwa won her second World Cup gold medal of the season, winning the 500-meter race. Lee finished in 37.36 seconds for her best time of the season. Japan's Nao Kodairo skated a national-record time of 37.42 to take silver.
China's Jing Yu, who had won both World Cup 500 races she previously skated, was disqualified.
For the men, Japan's Keiichiro Nagashima won 500 gold in 34.37, edging Jan Smeekens of The Netherlands (34.40). American Tucker Fredricks (34.45) took bronze.
-- Lynn DeBruin
Cycling
Valverde wins fifth stage of Tour Down Under
ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Spain's Alejandro Valverde won the fifth and longest stage of the Tour Down Under on Saturday to remnain in position to race for the overall victory in his return from a two-year doping ban.
Valverde outsprinted Australia's Simon Gerrans — a stage winner on the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana — to win the 95-mile stage that finished with a climb to the summit of Old Willunga Hill.
Gerrans will wear the tour leader's ochre jersey Sunday in the final stage — a 56-mile race around a street circuit in downtown Adelaide — but there is no time difference between him and Valverde, meaning a countback might be needed to decide the winner.
Gerrans has the race lead entering the final stage because he has a lower aggregate placing than Valverde for the first five stages.
Valverde, of Spain's Movistar team, leaned across the handlebars and sobbed after winning the stage from McLaren Vale to the top of Old Willunga Hill, the first time in the race's 14-year history the stage has finished on its highest summit.
"We targeted this stage as a team because we thought it suited may abilities and that's how it worked out," Valverde said.
The 31-year-old Valverde was banned for two years in January 2010 after being implicated in Operation Puerto, a blood-doping ring in Spain involving more than 50 riders. He gave up the No. 1 world ranking in the process.
While he never tested positive for a banned drug, Valverde was reported to have been linked to the doping ring by DNA evidence seized in police raids in 2006.
The Tour Down Under is his first race since the ban ended and provided a reminder of his ability as he sets his sights on the Tour de France in June.
The final stage, in leafy parklands near the Torrens River and Adelaide Oval cricket ground, seldom results in a decisive breakaway and is likely to end with most of the 131 riders in the peleton on or around the same time. That would result in only the second countback in the race's history and the first since 2003.
Sailing
Sail boats face piracy threats, head to safe haven
MALE, Maldives (AP) — Boats competing in the Volvo Ocean Race were transported onboard an armed ship again to the safe haven of the Maldives capital because of the threat of pirates along the east coast of Africa.
Dutch ship Happy Diamond was protected by barbed wire when it delivered the six-strong fleet safely to Male.
"It has been a very tense and difficult time for us, and obviously we did not want to have to take this measure," Race CEO Knut Frostad said. "But we had no option but to take our security experts' advice. Now we're just looking forward to getting back to racing."
In an unprecedented move the 38-year history of the race, boats in the race were transported in late December on an armed ship through the Indian Ocean. They completed the leg with a short sprint into Abu Dhabi in the first week of January.
More than four months ago, only team and race officials knew of the decision to use the Maldives as a safe haven. They were required to sign non-disclosure documents.
The race, which started in late October from Alicante, Spain, has already had its share of drama. The boats were forced to suspend racing four times because of broken rigging and a holed hull.
The third leg promises to be just as hazardous with the fleet racing more than 3,000 nautical miles across the Indian Ocean, through the Malacca Strait and into the South China Sea.
The fleet will face monsoon winds and long stretches of upwind sailing through rough seas. They'll dodge container ships while picking their way through some of the busiest shipping lanes.
Team Telefonica of Spain, led by co-world sailors of the year Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez, lead the overall standings. Camper (Spain/New Zealand) and French boat Groupama trail the leader.
Auto Racing
Loeb keeps lead on fourth day of Monte Carlo Rally
MONACO (AP) — Sebastien Loeb kept his lead on the fourth day of the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally and Petter Solberg closed the gap on Daniel Sordo in the fight for second place on Saturday.
Although Loeb failed to win a stage for the second straight day, the Frenchman leads Sordo overall by 2 minutes, 41.6 seconds. Loeb took few risks in his Citroen and only needs a conservative run in the short final state Sunday to win.
