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

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About the Author: Geoff Mintz

Geoff Mintz is a former alpine ski racer who cut his teeth at Ragged Mountain and Waterville Valley, N.H. After graduating from Holderness and UVM, he relocated to Colorado, where he worked on the hill prior to pursuing a career in journalism. Mintz served as associate editor for Ski Racing Media from 2011 to 2015. He later reconnected with his local roots to manage all marketing and communications for Ski & Snowboard Club Vail before resuming work at SRM as editor-in-chief.