WENGEN, Switzerland — Will he or won’t he? That’s been the big question posed to Bode Miller this weekend in Wengen. And after two days of downhill training, the American who on two occasions conquered the Lauberhorn had no more a definitive answer. Miller neither confirmed nor ruled out tomorrow’s super combined and Sunday’s downhill.
The marquee event of the weekend, the Lauberhorn downhill, has been rescheduled due to forecasted winds, swapping places with the slalom planned for Sunday. At team captains meeting Wednesday, men’s alpine Race Director Markus Waldner said there is “no chance” of hosting the downhill on Saturday and the modification to the schedule gives organizers “the best chance” at getting all of the races off.
So, it will be super combined on Friday, as planned, slalom on Saturday and downhill on Sunday.
Thursday’s training was also systematic of the problem at hand: high winds at the top of the course, which forced officials to lower the proceedings to the super combined start, forgoing the fast, exposed upper part of the Lauberhorn — the Russisprung and the Traversenschuss — favorite sections for many of the downhillers.
Bode Miller took it easy and skied to 44th position Friday — he was 27th earlier in the week. After the run, Miller still hadn’t made up his mind about the weekend, but did say the lowered start could be beneficial and could influence his decision to race.
“It was good up there today, same really as the first run,” Miller said. “I feel a little bit unstable when I get tired toward the bottom. I took it really easy again today on the bottom quarter, even though it was a lowered start. It just seems like a bit too much risk to push hard there, so it’s going to be a tough decision.
“I’d love to race and see how I do, but I also know this hill pretty well. If you’re not physically ready for it, it can damage you a lot,” added Miller. “I’m still right on the edge. I might wind up not racing here. I’m walking a fine line and have to make good decisions.”
World Cup overall contender Kjetil Jansrud laid down the fastest run on the abbreviated course Thursday. With the double-podium weekend by Marcel Hirscher in Adelboden, the upcoming speed events have become all the more crucial for the Norwegian to stay in the overall hunt prior to the World Championship hiatus.
“It doesn’t really affect me. (Hirscher) had a great weekend, as expected. The guy doesn’t make any mistakes and he keeps grabbing 100 points every time, so it’s going to be tough keeping up with him. I’m only 200 points back, so if I can have an awesome week here, then I’ll be back in the game.”
With a time of 1 minute, 49.07 seconds — nearly 50 seconds shorter than Tuesday’s times from the top — Jansrud was followed by Austrian Matthias Mayer, who was fastest earlier in the week, while Carlo Janka was again quick finishing in third position.
For the U.S., Jared Goldberg (19th) led the team in this second of two training runs. He finished just in front of Ted Ligety (20th), who plans to race in the super combined tomorrow.
“It’s good to get back on downhill skis. It’s definitely a lot of fun,” said Ligety. “I felt a lot more comfortable today. There’s still a lot to be improved, but I feel like I’m stepping in the right direction as far as finding some speed on this hill.”
Uncharacteristically near the bottom of the finish list today, Steven Nyman in 54th has been battling flu-like symptoms this week. On Tuesday, he simply pushed out of the start and skied off the hill to assure himself eligibility for the race. He wasn’t in much better shape on Thursday, and certainly an extra day to recover for the downhill was welcomed news.
“The plan was to rest up, and I was feeling pretty good that day, but then yesterday I was puking,” Nayman shared. “I’m just battling something and I have no energy today, as you can see by my time. … I was psyched to hear they’re moving (the downhill) back a day. Hopefully that gives me enough time to gain some energy.”
Results
| 1 | 18 | 421483 | JANSRUD Kjetil | 1985 | NOR | 1:49.07 | ||||
| 2 | 20 | 53902 | MAYER Matthias | 1990 | AUT | 1:49.52 | +0.45 | |||
| 3 | 9 | 511313 | JANKA Carlo | 1986 | SUI | 1:50.03 | +0.96 | |||
| 4 | 26 | 50858 | STREITBERGER Georg | 1981 | AUT | 1:50.05 | +0.98 | |||
| 5 | 19 | 291459 | PARIS Dominik | 1989 | ITA | 1:50.12 | +1.05 | |||
| 6 | 11 | 53817 | FRANZ Max | 1989 | AUT | 1:50.36 | +1.29 | |||
| 7 | 35 | 201811 | STECHERT Tobias | 1985 | GER | 1:50.37 | +1.30 | |||
| 8 | 12 | 292455 | FILL Peter | 1982 | ITA | 1:50.43 | +1.36 | |||
| 9 | 16 | 511139 | KUENG Patrick | 1984 | SUI | 1:50.47 | +1.40 | |||
| 10 | 10 | 192746 | THEAUX Adrien | 1984 | FRA | 1:50.49 | +1.42 | |||
| 11 | 44 | 561067 | PERKO Rok | 1985 | SLO | 1:50.57 | +1.50 | |||
| 12 | 48 | 150398 | BANK Ondrej | 1980 | CZE | 1:50.71 | +1.64 | |||
| 13 | 58 | 990081 | CASSE Mattia | 1990 | ITA | 1:50.75 | +1.68 | |||
| 14 | 54 | 561216 | KLINE Bostjan | 1991 | SLO | 1:50.91 | +1.84 | |||
| 14 | 5 | 191964 | POISSON David | 1982 | FRA | 1:50.91 | +1.84 | |||
| 16 | 40 | 561217 | KOSI Klemen | 1991 | SLO | 1:50.95 | +1.88 | |||
| 17 | 49 | 53980 | KRIECHMAYR Vincent | 1991 | AUT | 1:50.98 | +1.91 | |||
| 18 | 13 | 191740 | CLAREY Johan | 1981 | FRA | 1:51.00 | +1.93 | |||
| 19 | 43 | 934643 | GOLDBERG Jared | 1991 | USA | 1:51.07 | +2.00 | |||
| 19 | 6 | 534562 | LIGETY Ted | 1984 | USA | 1:51.07 | +2.00 | |||
| 21 | 36 | 511981 | WEBER Ralph | 1993 | SUI | 1:51.08 | +2.01 | |||
| 22 | 46 | 481705 | GLEBOV Alexander | 1983 | RUS | 1:51.15 | +2.08 | |||
| 23 | 17 | 192932 | FAYED Guillermo | 1985 | FRA | 1:51.20 | +2.13 | |||
| 23 | 8 | 511383 | FEUZ Beat | 1987 | SUI | 1:51.20 | +2.13 | |||
| 25 | 42 | 511513 | CAVIEZEL Mauro | 1988 | SUI | 1:51.21 | +2.14 | |||
| 26 | 55 | 194190 | ROGER Brice | 1990 | FRA | 1:51.24 | +2.17 | |||
| 27 | 23 | 54005 | STRIEDINGER Otmar | 1991 | AUT | 1:51.26 | +2.19 | |||
| 28 | 69 | 193967 | MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor | 1989 | FRA | 1:51.28 | +2.21 | |||
| 29 | 4 | 202059 | FERSTL Josef | 1988 | GER | 1:51.31 | +2.24 | |||
| 30 | 21 | 102899 | OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel | 1984 | CAN | 1:51.40 | +2.33 | |||
| 31 | 38 | 561255 | CATER Martin | 1992 | SLO | 1:51.61 | +2.54 | |||
| 32 | 45 | 380292 | ZRNCIC-DIM Natko | 1986 | CRO | 1:51.65 | +2.58 | |||
| 33 | 51 | 103271 | THOMSEN Benjamin | 1987 | CAN | 1:51.66 | +2.59 | |||
| 34 | 39 | 511529 | GISIN Marc | 1988 | SUI | 1:51.70 | +2.63 | |||
| 35 | 59 | 192504 | MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas | 1984 | FRA | 1:51.71 | +2.64 | |||
| 36 | 52 | 194167 | MUZATON Maxence | 1990 | FRA | 1:51.72 | +2.65 | |||
| 36 | 28 | 510727 | DEFAGO Didier | 1977 | SUI | 1:51.72 | +2.65 | |||
| 38 | 53 | 194542 | GIRAUD MOINE Valentin | 1992 | FRA | 1:51.74 | +2.67 | |||
| 39 | 33 | 560447 | SPORN Andrej | 1981 | SLO | 1:51.78 | +2.71 | |||
| 40 | 3 | 533131 | SULLIVAN Marco | 1980 | USA | 1:51.88 | +2.81 | |||
| 41 | 47 | 400281 | VAN HEEK Marvin | 1991 | NED | 1:51.89 | +2.82 | |||
| 42 | 27 | 293141 | VARETTONI Silvano | 1984 | ITA | 1:51.94 | +2.87 | |||
| 42 | 1 | 50753 | KROELL Klaus | 1980 | AUT | 1:51.94 | +2.87 | |||
| 44 | 29 | 532431 | MILLER Bode | 1977 | USA | 1:51.98 | +2.91 | |||
| 45 | 14 | 530874 | GANONG Travis | 1988 | USA | 1:52.15 | +3.08 | |||
| 46 | 7 | 293006 | INNERHOFER Christof | 1984 | ITA | 1:52.20 | +3.13 | |||
| 47 | 41 | 380260 | KOSTELIC Ivica | 1979 | CRO | 1:52.21 | +3.14 | |||
| 48 | 25 | 292514 | HEEL Werner | 1982 | ITA | 1:52.24 | +3.17 | |||
| 49 | 31 | 510890 | ZURBRIGGEN Silvan | 1981 | SUI | 1:52.44 | +3.37 | |||
| 50 | 37 | 501076 | OLSSON Hans | 1984 | SWE | 1:52.52 | +3.45 | |||
| 51 | 32 | 194364 | PINTURAULT Alexis | 1991 | FRA | 1:52.59 | +3.52 | |||
| 51 | 24 | 51332 | SCHEIBER Florian | 1987 | AUT | 1:52.59 | +3.52 | |||
| 53 | 30 | 51215 | BAUMANN Romed | 1986 | AUT | 1:52.67 | +3.60 | |||
| 54 | 15 | 533866 | NYMAN Steven | 1982 | USA | 1:52.79 | +3.72 | |||
| 55 | 57 | 293550 | MARSAGLIA Matteo | 1985 | ITA | 1:52.80 | +3.73 | |||
| 56 | 56 | 930024 | MAPLE Wiley | 1990 | USA | 1:52.81 | +3.74 | |||
| 57 | 64 | 534959 | JITLOFF Tim | 1985 | USA | 1:52.98 | +3.91 | |||
| 58 | 34 | 103762 | WERRY Tyler | 1991 | CAN | 1:53.18 | +4.11 | |||
| 59 | 61 | 430429 | BYDLINSKI Maciej | 1988 | POL | 1:53.55 | +4.48 | |||
| 60 | 50 | 202196 | BRANDNER Klaus | 1990 | GER | 1:54.03 | +4.96 | |||
| 61 | 70 | 481327 | TRIKHICHEV Pavel | 1992 | RUS | 1:54.28 | +5.21 | |||
| 62 | 62 | 561322 | HADALIN Stefan | 1995 | SLO | 1:54.40 | +5.33 | |||
| 63 | 65 | 700830 | ZAMPA Adam | 1990 | SVK | 1:54.49 | +5.42 | |||
| 64 | 60 | 104096 | THOMPSON Broderick | 1994 | CAN | 1:54.57 | +5.50 | |||
| 65 | 71 | 530165 | BRANDENBURG Will | 1987 | USA | 1:54.66 | +5.59 | |||
| 66 | 66 | 150495 | VRABLIK Martin | 1982 | CZE | 1:54.89 | +5.82 | |||
| 67 | 68 | 150644 | KRYZL Krystof | 1986 | CZE | 1:55.63 | +6.56 | |||
| 68 | 67 | 110324 | VON APPEN Henrik | 1994 | CHI | 1:56.05 | +6.98 | |||
| 69 | 63 | 150743 | BERNDT Ondrej | 1988 | CZE | 1:56.94 | +7.87 | |||
| Did not start 1st run | ||||||||||
| 22 | 50742 | REICHELT Hannes | 1980 | AUT | ||||||
| 2 | 511352 | VILETTA Sandro | 1986 | SUI | ||||||



















