International Capsules: Miller finishes 4th in downhill; Janka wins again

Miller finishes 4th in downhill; Janka wins again

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. — A buzz built as Bode Miller sped his way down the slope to the strains of Steppenwolf’s "Born to Be Wild," risking, rollicking and even scraping his glove along the snow at one point to make sure he stayed upright.

Yes, folks, Bode’s back.

Miller finished fourth behind Switzerland’s Carlo Janka in a World Cup downhill Saturday, proving to anyone who might have harbored any doubts that, with the Vancouver Olympics about 2½ months away, the 32-year-old American is capable of competing with the best.

"When the conditions are fairly even, like they are today, there’s no question that I have the ability to win races," said Miller, who nearly skied out twice before righting himself. "But little things like mistakes have always been an issue for me. If I had a clean run today, I think I would have been on top of the podium."

Instead, Janka took that top spot for the second time in less than 24 hours, completing the Birds of Prey downhill course in 1 minute, 43.49 seconds, only 0.02 ahead of teammate Didier Cuche, and 0.04 in front of defending overall champion Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway.

On Friday, Janka led another 1-2 finish for Switzerland in a super combined event, and he now leads the overall World Cup standings thanks to four podium finishes already.

"What can I say? Amazing weekend for me here," said Janka, a 23-year-old who doubled his career World Cup victory total in two days.

Miller, of Franconia, N.H., came in 0.45 seconds off the pace — by far his best showing of the season. Andrew Weichbrecht of Lake Placid, N.Y., was the next-best U.S. finisher, in 11th place, followed by Marco Sullivan of Squaw Valley, Calif., in 14th.

While the Swiss are showing that they could be primed for a dominant Winter Games, Miller flashed signs that he once again will command attention, too.

"That was an inspirational run. That was a wild ride," U.S. Ski Team men’s coach Sasha Rearick said. "He skied tactically pretty smart, which was great. But he skied aggressive."

The way Miller attacks a slope leaves him open to making errors along the way, but he’s never been about results, necessarily — he certainly never expressed disappointment about his no-medal Turin Olympics, for example.

Instead, he craves speed. The two-time overall World Cup champion reached 75 mph Saturday, and along the way nearly toppled over on the upper part of the course, putting a hand down to save himself, then veered to the right lower down before maintaining control.

"Mistakes are acceptable when you push the way that I was pushing today. I was trying to do a lot, really. I was taking a really aggressive line and not backing off anywhere," Miller said. "And, you know, this course, if you do that — if you want to win, that’s sort of usually what you have to do."

It certainly was an encouraging showing for a guy who acknowledges his fitness level is not where it needs to be because he got a late start on training. Miller cut short his 2008-09 season to spend time with his baby daughter in California, then contemplated staying away from the circuit altogether in the run-up to the 2010 Olympics.

By the time he came around to deciding to race this season — and to rejoin the U.S. team after competing independently since May 2007 — Miller was way behind everyone else in preparation.

When he finished Saturday’s run, Miller leaned forward and put his hands on his knees, his chest heaving.

"On the bottom, my legs just aren’t as strong as they should be right now," he said. "The fitness level ... is going to be an issue for a little while still. It’s just hard to train a lot and get the fitness moving forward while you’re racing all the time, like I am. But that’ll come around. It’s just I just started much, much later than I ever have before."

That showed in his previous four World Cup races this season: 29th in a downhill, 39th in a super-G, and two "Did Not Finish" listings. On Friday, he stumbled during the slalom portion of the super combined and wound up falling headfirst into the snow.

Saturday, though, was a different story.

"Maybe it’s a good thing he didn’t work out so much this summer," Svindal said with a chuckle. "Then we would have trouble."

Vonn wins 2nd straight World Cup downhill

LAKE LOUISE, Alberta — Lindsey Vonn won a World Cup downhill for the second straight day, giving her seven victories on the Lake Louise course since 2004.

Saturday’s victory marked the first time the 25-year-old Vonn has won two downhills in two days at Lake Louise. The course hosts two downhills each year, weather permitting.

The two-time overall World Cup overall champion from Vail, Colo., will also be in the hunt to win Sunday’s super-G.

"I’ve only gotten two wins back-to-back once, so I think three is pushing my luck," Vonn said. "I’m definitely going to go out tomorrow and try my best, and I’m just hoping for a podium."

The U.S. Ski Team said it was the best overall showing for American women in a World Cup downhill since March 16, 1991, at Vail, Colo. Alice McKennis — a 20-year-old in her third career World Cup race — finished 10th, Stacey Cook 11th, Julia Mancuso 12th, Leanne Smith 23rd, and Chelsea Marshall 25th.

Snow and poor visibility had shortened the opening downhill Friday, when Vonn won despite arriving at the finish with a bloody mouth from cutting her tongue at the top of the run after smacking her chin on her knee.

The sky was clear Saturday, allowing the women to race the full course.

Vonn was timed in 1 minute, 50.06 seconds and was followed by Germany’s Maria Riesch and Canada’s Emily Brydon.

"This is what I kind of believed could happen, but it’s never happened before now," said Brydon, who was second in Friday’s race. "I really believed in what I did yesterday, and I wanted to follow it up with something good."

Other Winter Sports

Burke wins first biathlon sprint medal for U.S.

OSTERSUND, Sweden — It’s been a historic week for Tim Burke and the U.S. biathlon team.

Burke became the first American to medal at the sprint distance Saturday, two days after he matched the best U.S. finish in any biathlon event with a silver in the 20-kilometer. It’s the first time the Americans have been on the biathlon podium twice in one week.

"It helps my confidence," said Burke, who was third in the 10-kilometer race behind Norwegians Ole Einar Bjorndalen and Emil Hegle Svendsen. "I have confirmation my training this year went well. I know I can compete with guys in any of the racing styles, and that does a lot more than any training can do."

Burke was a perfect 10 for 10 shooting and finished in 24:07.3, 37 seconds behind Bjorndalen, the five-time Olympic gold medalist.

On Thursday, the 27-year-old from Lake Placid, N.Y., tied for the best finish ever by a U.S. biathlete by placing second to Svendsen in the season-opening 20K race.

"It’s a very, very big deal for us," said Max Cobb, U.S. Biathlon’s executive director. "It’s just so much fun to see this Olympic season begin this way. Biathlon is not a well-known sport in the United States, and this is just the perfect way for biathlon to make its national debut."

In the women’s 7.5K, Tora Berger of Norway won in 21:21.5, hitting every target in strong wind. Olga Medvedtseva was second, 6.8 seconds behind.

Biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing with rifle marksmanship, is wildly popular in Europe, where it is the top-rated winter sport on television. Not surprisingly, it’s dominated by Europeans, particularly the Norwegians, Germans and Russians.

The Americans have been trying to crash the party for years, with little success.

Before last season, they’d won a grand total of four medals — at any distance — at World Cups and the world championships.

But U.S. Biathlon overhauled its program after the Turin Olympics. The U.S. Olympic Committee quadrupled the federation’s funding from $250,000 a year to $1 million, and sponsor TD Bank pitched in, too.

That allowed the Americans to hire Swedish coach Per Nilsson, along with shooting coach Armin Auchentaller and high-performance director Bernd Eisenbichler.

"Four years ago I thought I was training hard. And then I met Per," said Burke, who said Nilsson has increased not only the volume of training but the intensity. "The entire staff has given me everything I need to compete with best in world."

The results are clear, with three medals in a nine-month span.

Jeremy Teela’s bronze at a World Cup event in March ended a 17-year U.S. medal drought. The other top two American men have also had top-15 finishes.

"It’s changed a lot over the last few years," Burke said. "For the people who follow biathlon (the recent success) is not a huge surprise. It was a matter of time before we broke through."

Burke and Teela’s success could be the start of what U.S. Biathlon hopes is a watershed season. Winter sports, particularly the smaller ones, get more attention in an Olympic year, and Burke’s results are sure to inspire the rest of the U.S. team.

"I’m not superhuman. They know they can beat me on days, and for sure the podium is possible for the rest of the guys," Burke said.

The Americans have never won an Olympic medal — haven’t even come close. Their best finish was a sixth in the relay event, and that was back in 1972.

But as Burke showed in a matter of three days, anything is possible.

"It has been a two-decade goal of ours to do this," Cobb said. "For Americans in biathlon to win a medal at the Olympics, in Europe’s favorite winter sport, maybe it’s not quite the Miracle on Ice of 1980, but it’s darn close."

Swiss finish 1-2, U.S. third in 2-man bobsled race

CESANA PARIOL, Italy — Switzerland swept the top two places in a two-man bobsled World Cup race on Saturday, while the U.S. team of Steven Holcomb and Curtis Tomasevicz took third.

Beat Hefti and Thomas Lamparter took the victory in Switzerland II with a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 52.37 seconds on the 2006 Turin Olympics track. Switzerland I with Ivo Rueegg and Cedric Grand was second, 0.22 of a second behind.

Holcomb and Tomasevicz in USA I moved up from seventh after the opening run to place third, 0.50 back. Holcomb and Tomasevicz had the disadvantage of a late start number on the first run.

"The playing field was evened out in the second run with ice conditions," Holcomb said. "I tried to be as consistent as possible, and Curt really stepped it up with the push in the second run."

The bronze medal added to the gold and silver that Holcomb has already collected in two-man this year.

John Napier and Justin Olsen of the U.S. placed fifth, but were just 0.03 of a second out of third. Napier was coming off a gold-medal performance at Lake Placid, his home track, two weeks ago.

"I’m really excited," the 23-year-old said. "I don’t have much experience on this track, so I’m psyched to be in the mix. It was definitely an eye opener after the first run, because I realized that I really do belong here and I can be competitive at this level."

A woman’s race was scheduled for later under the lights.

Germany wins WCup luge singles, doubles races

ALTENBERG, Germany — Felix Loch of Germany won his first World Cup luge event and his teammates won the doubles race on Saturday.

Loch’s two-run total was 1 minute, 48.91 seconds, followed by Armin Zoeggeler of Italy, who remains atop the overall World Cup standings with 260 points. Albert Demtschenko of Russia was third in Altenberg, Germany.

Tony Benshoof, of White Bear Lake, Minn., had the best showing for the Americans, finishing 10th.

The Germans completed a sweep when Andre Florschutz and Torsten Wustlich captured the doubles event. Christian Niccum, of Woodinville, Wash., and Dan Joye, of Carmel, N.Y., finished ninth.

The women’s singles are Sunday, followed by the team relay.

Lamy Chappuis wins Nordic Combined WCup event

LILLEHAMMER, Norway — Jason Lamy Chappuis has beaten Petter Tande by a fraction of a second in a sprint to the finish at a Nordic Combined World Cup event.

The Frenchman entered the cross-country stadium with Tande and Eric Frenzel of Germany, but managed to get the inside track after the final turn and was 0.1 seconds faster than the Norwegian across the line on Saturday.

Frenzel finished third, 1.5 seconds back.

Lamy Chappuis led after the ski jump but had been caught by four skiers 2.5 kilometers into the 10K cross-country race.

Lamy Chappuis leads the overall standings with 245 points, with Frenzel, Tande and Hannu Manninen of Finland are tied for second on 180.

Russian, Swede win sprint World Cup events

DUESSELDORF, Germany — Alexei Petukhov of Russia and Hanna Falk of Sweden won cross-country World Cup sprint events Saturday in races held along the banks of the Rhine River.

Petukhov beat two Norwegians in the 1.5-kilometer final, crossing the line ahead of Anders Gloeersen and Eirik Brabdsdal.

Falk won the 0.8-kilometer final ahead of Natalia Korosteleva of Russia and Vesna Fabjan of Slovenia.

Schlierenzauer wins WCup event in Lillehammer

LILLEHAMMER, Norway — Gregor Schlierenzauer has won a ski jump World Cup event by edging Austrian compatriot Thomas Morgenstern on Lillehammer’s large hill.

Schlierenzauer was sixth after the first round on Saturday but jumped 141 meters in the second to beat Morgenstern by 3.5 points. The defending overall World Cup champion finished with 268.9 points to 265.4 for Morgenstern, the first-round leader.

Adam Malysz of Poland was third on 259.8.

The event was initially scheduled for Trondheim, but was rescheduled to Lillehammer because of a lack of snow.

Figure Skating

American skater Evan Lysacek wins GP final

TOKYO — World champion Evan Lysacek won the Grand Prix final Saturday, becoming the second straight American to capture the figure skating title.

In the women’s event, Kim Yu-na of South Korea made it a clean sweep for world champions, rallying to win the free skate and claim her third GP title in four years.

Lysacek, who was second entering the free skate, received a season’s best 249.45 points to finish ahead of Nobunari Oda of Japan, who was second with 243.36. Johnny Weir of the United States was third with 237.35 points.

Skating to "Sheherazade," Lysacek opened his routine with a triple lutz, triple toeloop combination and followed with a triple axel and a triple salchow.

Lysacek’s only major mistakes came when he singled a triple axel and failed to do a double loop at the end of a triple combination jump.

"I’m glad that the improvements I made since Skate America were reflected in today’s result," Lysacek said. "I had one glaring mistake today but was satisfied with my overall performance."

Jeremy Abbott of the United States, who won the GP title last year, was fourth with 235.38 points. Daisuke Takahashi of Japan, who was first after the short program, dropped to fifth after an error-filled free skate.

With Saturday’s win, Lysacek improved his chances of making the United States team for the Vancouver Olympics.

"In the last Olympics, I was young and really excited," Lysacek said. "I’ve learned a lot in the past four years and want to take the experience I have gained and put it all into effect in Vancouver."

The top six skaters in the regular season GP standings qualify for the final.

Kim, who was second after the short program, landed four triple jumps to finish with 188.86 points.

"I’m still not completely satisfied my performance," Kim said. "My jumps weren’t perfect, but I will use the experience I gained here to build for the future."

Japanese skater Miki Ando, first after the short program, was second with 185.94 points, while teammate Akiko Suzuki was third with 174. Ashley Wagner of the United States was fourth.

Oda and Ando both wrapped up Olympic berths.

"I think I matured a lot at this event," Ando said. "The Olympics are an entirely different stage, but I feel like I gained some confidence here."

In the pairs event, Shen Xue and Hongbo Zhao of China won the gold medal with 214.25 points, finishing ahead of Pang Qing and Tong Jian, who had 201.86 points. Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany were third with 200.38 points.

-- Jim Armstrong

Running

Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon set Sunday

LAS VEGAS — Marathoners know boredom. Las Vegas doesn’t — especially along the ever-changing, always-open, neon-lighted Las Vegas Strip.

This year, organizers of the first Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon are adding music and promotional muscle to a race that will send competitors up Las Vegas Boulevard at dawn on Sunday. They’re hoping to hit the fitness tourism jackpot in Sin City.

"Vegas is an international destination," said Scott Dickey, chief operating officer of the new race owner, Competitor Group Inc. The San Diego-based company took over the race this year after buying it from financially troubled Chicago-based Devine Racing.

"We believe the unique experience that we’re going to deliver on the Strip makes this race so much different than any other race in the country," he said. "Our goal is to put this on the ‘bucket list’ of racing" for runners to do in their lifetimes.

Competitor Group added Las Vegas to its series of 12 other entertainment-themed Rock ‘n’ Roll marathons around the country. Other race sites include Phoenix, New Orleans, Seattle, Philadelphia and San Antonio. It’ll add a 14th, Denver, in 2010.

Dickey said he expects the Las Vegas race will become more popular than the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon, which drew more than 33,000 runners last January.

More than 27,000 runners are registered for the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas race, Dickey said — more than twice as many as the 12,544 who ran last year. They are from all 50 states and 39 countries. Some 2,000 will be from Canada alone.

One in three will be running their first marathon or half-marathon. Almost three in five will be female.

Eighty-five percent will be from outside the Las Vegas area, and that means most will be renting hotel rooms.

"We’re very focused on record numbers of people," Dickey said, speaking a language that Las Vegas tourism officials appreciate. "We’re very focused on heads in the beds."

Just as they have since 2005, runners will start north past resorts including the Tropicana, MGM Grand, Flamingo, Harrah’s, Venetian, Wynn and Sahara before looping back.

They’ll be treated to showgirls, Elvis impersonators and fireworks. Along the course, some will veer in for quickie weddings at run-through chapels.

Rock ‘n’ Roll race organizers promise a new layer of entertainment, including white tigers at the start recalling the heyday of the iconic Siegfried & Roy show, and 35 bands of all musical genres playing on 24 stages along the course.

Half-marathoners will finish their entire 13.1 miles on the Strip — south past the Stratosphere tower, Treasure Island pirate ship, Mirage volcano, Caesars Palace columns, Bellagio fountains and new CityCenter development.

Marathoners will log about half their 26.2 miles heading west toward Red Rock foothills and Spanish Trails Country Club before heading back to finish near the start at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.

Of the more than 70 elite runners entered, Kenyan Matthew Koech and American Justin Young are considered front-runners, race spokesman Dan Cruz said. Defending champion Abebe Yimer, a 30-year-old Ethiopian-born naturalized American who lives and trains in Las Vegas, is returning.

Koech, 26, won a 25-kilometer Berlin Race earlier this year. Young, 30, of Colorado, represented Team USA in the marathon at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Germany.

Russia’s Alevtina Ivanova, 34, and Kenyan Alice Timbilili, 27, are expected to lead the women’s race, Cruz said. Both ran personal marathon bests of 2:26:39 in 2008 — Ivanova in Nagano, Japan, and Timbilili in Paris.

The Las Vegas course remains flat and fast — much different from an underfunded and under-promoted point-to-point race run every January from 1983 to 2005 from a hamlet south of Las Vegas to a county park well off the Strip. About 4,400 runners braved chilly headwinds in the last marathon on that course.

But don’t expect world records, Dickey said.

"Our focus as an organization is not to compete with the Boston, New York, London or Chicago marathons," he said. "We’re not about how fast you’re going to run. We’re about the enjoyment and journey along the way."

-- Ken Ritter

Kebede wins Fukuoka International Marathon

FUKUOKA, Japan — Beijing Olympic bronze medalist Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia has clocked a personal best time to win the Fukuoka International Marathon.

The 22-year-old Kebede broke away from Dereje Tesfaye at the 33-kilometer mark to win Sunday’s race in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 18 seconds.

Kebede’s mark was 2 seconds faster than his previous best of 2:05:20 set at the London Marathon in April.