Miller misses chance at 4th straight medal

But he’s fared much better than Canada and Austria in this year’s Olympics.

Washington Post

WHISTLER, British Columbia — By the time the final skiers slashed their way down the giant slalom course here Tuesday, Bode Miller’s chance at winning a fourth medal in as many Olympic races had long since passed, and the U.S. Ski Team’s remarkable run of eight medals in the first six events was over. Red, white and blue still swirled in the crowd, but those flags represented Norway.

And as the last skier with a chance to win the event, Switzerland’s Carlo Janka, left the starting gate, the white-cross-on-red-background flags of his home country flew as well. By that time, though, the flags of two nations that came here hoping to beat not only the Americans, but everyone else, were folded, tucked away for another day — and perhaps another Olympics.

The Canadians prepared to host the Olympics by sinking money into a program they boldly named “Own the Podium.” On the mountains, they have done nothing but cede it. The Austrian men’s team has won Alpine medals in every Winter Games since 1936. With just one race to go, it has none here.

“It’s hard to be on top,” said Austria’s Benjamin Raich, who won the giant slalom gold four years ago in Turin, but finished sixth here Tuesday.

Janka found himself on top after a pair of sterling runs, the second of which allowed him to overcome the two Norwegians ahead of him: Kjetil Jansrud, who took silver, and Aksel Lund Svindal, whose bronze in the giant slalom helped him match Miller with a medal of each color at these Olympics.

“It’s such a great thing when you are Olympic champion,” said Janka, 23, a rising star who could win medals for years to come.

Miller could have felt such a sentiment just two days earlier, when he won the super combined to give him his first gold medal to go along with the silver he won in super-G and the bronze he won in downhill. But Tuesday, he didn’t even advance to the second of two giant slalom runs. Trying to push the limits a bit, he nearly crashed. And though he saved himself — he “made a recovery like only Bode can,” U.S. men’s coach Sasha Rearick said — he caught his hand on a gate and recovered again. But it was too much. He planted a hard right foot, hit a gate — and skied off course.

“I’m taking more risk than everyone else,” Miller, who skied past reporters at the finish area, said in an interview with the Associated Press. “That’s partly why I’m able to get medals. It looks easy when you make it.”

Miller’s failure to advance left Ted Ligety — the top-ranked giant slalom skier on the World Cup circuit — as the lone remaining American hope. Ligety finished the first run in eighth place.60 of a second behind Janka, and said he “definitely didn’t feel defeated between runs.” But he made a huge error almost immediately out of the gate, and could never make up the time. He finished ninth, 1.28 seconds behind Janka’s winning time of 2 minutes 37.83 seconds.

“I felt like ... of all the guys on the team, I should’ve been getting medals, for sure,” Ligety said.

For the Austrians and Canadians, it now doesn’t matter who might win a medal. Can Ianyone /I stand up?