WENGEN, Switzerland — Bode Miller will not race in Wengen this weekend, but he will forerun.

At a lively team captains meeting ahead of Friday’s super combined, coaches and FIS officials hashed out a request by U.S. men’s head coach Sasha Rearick to allow Miller to forerun. Rearick pointed out that the local organizer is charged with determining forerunners; nevertheless, concerns were raised over the precedent that would be set.

“Markus (Waldner) requested that I ask all the teams if it was OK with them,” said Rearick. “The main discussion was about what we do in the future, and that’s something I respect. I respect Markus and the questions raised by the coaches. The precedent in the past has always been that the organizing committee decides who the forerunners are. The OC always consults with the national governing body. In most cases, it’s always accepted.”

A similar situation arose a couple years ago when the Swiss asked if Danny Albrecht, also returning from injury, could forerun on U.S. snow. The Americans accommodated the request, and the Swiss had agreed to reciprocate for Miller this weekend.

Not so fast, said other coaches who were concerned Miller could give the Americans a competitive advantage, particularly Burkhard Schaffer, an Austrian trainer working for the Canadian team.

“It was controversial because I did it today,” said Rearick.

Playing a role in the U.S. Ski Team strategy is Miller’s injury protection status within the World Cup start list (WCSL). If Miller were to start both this weekend and Kitzbuehel, after the second race, he would forgo that status for the World Championships and future races, potentially affecting his start position.

Kitzbuehel is the priority for Miller, who’s never won the elusive Hahnenkamm.

Waldner publicly requested that Miller’s superstar status not influence the decision. In the end, it likely made the situation more difficult for him. All parties ultimately agreed Miller could forerun after 47 racers before the start of the “downhillers” —  athletes utilizing the race as a training run, at which point a second group of forerunners had been scheduled.