Phil Mahre, America’s last World Cup champ, assesses Bode Miller’s prospects{mosimage}Back in the 1980’s, Phil Mahre and his twin brother Steve made up the most potent one-two punch in the history of the U.S. Ski Team, winning Olympic and world championship medals — and World Cup titles. Phil Mahre talked with Ski Racing’s Nate Vinton during the World Cup Finals in Sestriere, Italy.

Ski Racing: You were the last American man to win the overall World Cup title, and to win the giant slalom discipline title.

Phil Mahre: It’s kind of strange. I never went into the sport thinking I’d win titles. I was never in it for that. I just said I wanted to win races. If you raced fast, everything else would fall into place, was my philosophy. But I look at the overall as a bigger accomplishment than any of my Olympic medals.

SR: Now Bode Miller is in a position to win both the overall and the giant slalom title — or one of them, or neither of them. Everybody is speculating, calculating points and making bets. Your name always comes up as the last American man to do it. So what do you think? Can Miller win it?

PM: The overall’s probably out of his reach, but the GS title is one he can win. That’s no small prize. GS is probably the most difficult discipline title. It’s the most coveted of the them all, besides the overall, among the athletes. I think if he does win it — the overall — it would be awesome. We need more Americans at the top of the game.

SR: How is the quest Bode Miller has made this season different from yours in 1983? Does it take a different kind of athlete to win the overall in 2004?

PM: The sport’s changed a lot. It used to be a finesse sport and now it’s a strength sport. It used to be just three events, and the downhillers used to be the odd man out in the overall thing. I mean that a downhiller couldn’t compete with a good technical event skier for the overall. The scoring system favored the tech skiers, who won GS and slalom. Now it’s the slalom skiers who are the odd man out. Those guys can’t hope to win the overall without working in some other event. And the equipment’s so specialized it’s hard to just switch to a new event. Now, I never skied super G, even though it was an event that was on the schedule for two years while I was racing. That’s new, and like the combined event, that changed the picture for how guys win the overall.

SR: There have been many changes of the rules since you raced. Which ones affect the overall title competition the most?

PM: The new seeding system is a huge change. With the new seeding system, each race changes your rankings. Back when I raced, they updated the book once a year, or twice in an Olympic year. That protected the upper echelons. Now, it’s much easier to advance up the ladder. A guy can have a good race and improve his seeding for the next week. Advancement is a lot easier. But of course, it’s a lot easier to get bumped back. It puts a premium on finishing every race. I think the direction is great.

SR: Do you follow the World Cup closely? Have you been watching Bode Miller this year as his fortunes have been going up and down?

PM: I followed it more in the last month. It’s exciting. It’s amazing how streaky he seems to be. He’s up or down. Last year, slalom was his nemesis and he scored all those downhill and super G points, and now it’s the other way around. He switched product and went from the best to the worst in slalom, but now he’s on fire in that event.

SR: But with his GS and slalom so hot right now, why would you say he can’t win the overall? There’s just a GS and slalom left this weekend. What if he wins them both?

PM: When it’s crunch-time, he hasn’t been able to deliver the goods. A lot of that is because he sets out to win by two seconds in every race, which is great, but probably not the best tactics. A win is a win, whether you win by two seconds or a hundredth.

SR: So if you were his coach, would you tell him to hold back?

PM: No way. Never. I’d tell him to go for it. But if he falls and [Finland’s Kalle] Palander wins, then the GS title goes to Palander. Right now, if Bode just skis well, the title’s his. He should go for it, win that title, and hopefully win the race and go into Sunday with a ton of confidence and the edge on the other guys.

SR: So, finally, tell us: Who will win the overall this year?

PM: Can’t say. [Austria’s] Benni Raich has got the upper hand on everyone. He’s been more consistent, and he can be top three both days. But for [Austrian Hermann] Maier, it’s not really in his hands right now. He just has to do his best and see how the rest do. I’ll be like everyone else, watching and waiting. I’ll be watching on the internet or whatever. Tell those guys to ski fast.