Are: Miller opts out of Sunday's team event

Bode Miller will not race in Sunday’s team event at the World Championships. The all-rounder has skied in every race here and men’s head coach Phil McNichol said Miller is just plain tired.
ARE, Sweden — Bode Miller will not race in Sunday’s team event at the World Championships. The all-rounder has skied in every race here and men’s head coach Phil McNichol said Miller is just plain tired.
    “He wanted to take that off. It was a very difficult decision for him and for us,” McNichol said. “It’s been a long trip. For the multiple-event guys, it’s really tough.”
    The team event for men and women is set for Sunday consisting of two slalom and two super G runs. Ted Ligety, Jimmy Cochran and Tim Jitloff will represent the U.S. men’s teams while Resi Stiegler and Kaylin Richardson head the women’s teams.
    Miller’s final event is Saturday’s slalom. If he wins the gold medal, he will become the first male ever with gold medals in all five disciplines in the World Championships.
    McNichol said Friday afternoon that the slalom racers — Ligety, Jitloff, Miller and Cochran — are healthy, in good spirits and ready for Saturday’s race.
    “We got some good training in today at Duved [just west of Are]. We freeskied on the race hill for 45 minutes and had lunch then went down for about an hour to an hour-and-a-half,” he said.
    Visibility on the course may be an issue if clouds don’t clear by Saturday. Race organizers plan to turn on all the course lights for the day race and will add dye to the snow to help highlight the terrain changes on the course.
    “There were clouds and fog cover. The light was super flat and they had some trouble just seeing the terrain during freeskiing,” McNichol said. “Hopefully, we’ll get luckier tomorrow [Saturday].”
    Ligety is hoping he can capitalize on his impressive run in the giant slalom Wednesday in which he placed fourth, just missing the medals.
    “I feel like my slalom is coming around and I feel like I can do something there,” he said.
    The Torino gold medalist in the combined said he knows Julia Mancuso and Lindsey Kildow have been carrying the U.S. Ski Team as far as medals go these championships.
    “Those two girls have been doing awesome and it’s good to see that,” he said. “It’s too bad Bode and I haven’t come through yet.”
    The up-and-coming Jitloff raced in the slalom qualifier on Thursday and secured his start in Saturday’s race by getting the fifth-fastest time. The top 25 from the qualification race join the top 50-ranked slalom skiers for the final race.
    Jitloff has a top-20 finish in the giant slalom here already and said he was looking forward to breaking out his slalom.
    “It’s very good. I have a lot of stuff to work on but the speed is there. I’m fast,” he said. “If I make it down alive, it’s usually good.”
    Teammate and slalom specialist Jimmy Cochran had a tough run in the GS this week. He broke his pole, which broke his concentration and caused him to nearly ski out in the second run.
    He was planning to get lots of sleep and put that race behind him and mentally prepare for the slalom.
    “It’s nice in ski racing going from GS to slalom. It’s so different,” he said. “It’s a new day.”
    Can the U.S. men’s team medal on Saturday? Jitloff certainly thinks so.
     “We came in totally positive. And I think for slalom, anything’s possible. I think we’re confident,” he said. “I’m fully relaxed, I know Ted’s pretty relaxed, Bode’s always relaxed. I think we’re ready to go, for sure.”