Are: Notebook: Times are tough for Italian skiing

ARE, Sweden — A year after hosting the Torino Olympics, Italy's ski team has hit hard times.

ARE, Sweden — A year after hosting the Torino Olympics, Italy's ski team has hit hard times.
    Team director Flavio Roda said the squad's coaches haven't been paid for ''two or three months.''
    In an emergency measure last month, control of the Italian Winter Sports Federation was given to Riccardo Agabio, the president of the Italian Gymnastics federation.
    Gaetano Coppi, who had led the federation since 2000, unexpectedly resigned on Dec. 13, just as the ski season got under way. Nine days later, he agreed to return on a temporary basis, but then withdrew again.
    ''It's been very difficult, but the athletes have handled it really well,'' Roda said. ''We've had eight athletes finish on the podium this season.''
    For the first time in recent memory at a major event, the team hasn't set up ''Casa Italia,'' the hospitality center known for its Italian cuisine.
    ''And there are no management members hanging around,'' Roda said. ''It's just us, the coaches and the team.''
    Roda said it's not the first time payments have been missed.
    ''It's happened frequently over the past few seasons, although this year it's more serious,'' Roda said.  
    Besides the Torino Games — where the host team failed to win a single alpine skiing medal — Italy also hosted the last world championships in Bormio two years ago.
    DIVERSIONS ON NON-RACE DAY: Bode Miller was supposed to defend his super-G gold medal Saturday. He ended up playing volleyball instead.
    With the race postponed until Monday, Miller and a few teammates found another sport to kill time.
    ''There are a couple of local gyms here and the guys and most of the coaches and staff got together to play,'' U.S. head coach Phil McNichol said. ''It's a good conditioning vehicle and they enjoy it. They had some fun, let off some steam and had a good workout.''
    The Swedish women's team also played volleyball, while the Austrians relaxed with a poker game.
    Peter Fill and Max Blardone of Italy revived their PlayStation video-game rivalry
    STENMARK TO SKI: Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark and 19 other former greats will compete in a giant slalom charity event during the worlds.
    The Skistar Invitational on Feb. 17 will raise funds for injured athletes.
    Stenmark will be joined by Switzerland's Pirmin Zurbriggen, Austria's Franz Klammer, Ole Kristian Furuseth of Norway, France's Luc Alphand and many other former Olympic and world champions.
    The parallel races are being organized by a charity foundation created by former Swedish slalom great Thomas Fogdoe.
    Fogdoe has been wheelchair bound since breaking his back during a practice run in Are in 1995.
    Stenmark won a record 86 World Cup races during his career, four of them in Are.
    FULL SCHEDULE FOR FILL: Bode Miller and overall World Cup leader Aksel Lund Svindal are good bets to race all six events at the worlds. Italy's Peter Fill could also accomplish the feat.
    Fill is fifth in the overall World Cup standings and is a threat in super G, downhill and combined. He was thinking about skipping the giant slalom, but now that teammate Davide Simoncelli is out injured, he could race that event too.
    ''The priority for him are the speed races and the combined,'' Italian team director Flavio Roda said. ''He could also race the GS now. We'll see what the conditions are like.''
    Fill has recorded four podium results on the World Cup circuit this season, but is still seeking his first career victory.
    ''He feels like his time has come,'' Roda said. ''He knows how big a victory here would be. The goal is to win a medal or two. A victory would be a bonus.''
    Roda thinks Fill's best chance for a medal is in the downhill after he finished third in the downhill at the World Cup finals on this course last season.
    ''He's in form and he's done well on this course,'' Roda said.

— The Associated Press