Miller Fifth in 84th Lauberhorn Downhill
WENGEN, Switzerland (Jan. 18) - Olympic gold medalist Bode MIller (Franconia, NH) finished fifth, a mere .35 behind winner Patrick Kueng of Switzerland in a wind shortened running of the 84th Lauberhorn downhill. The race start was lowered as high winds ravaged the upper half of the fabled course, cutting over a full minute from the normal leg burning run time. Young gun Jared Goldberg (Holladay, UT) took advantage of the rugged and technical bottom half to storm to 12th from the 40th start position. The race will air at 1 p.m. ET on Universal Sports Network.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) finished fifth, .27 off the podium in a wind shortened running of the 84th Lauberhorn downhill in Wengen.
- Miller navigated the turny middle part of the sprint course flawlessly, then made a small mistake just above the finish to drop out of podium contention.
- The longest Audi FIS Alpine World Cup on tour was cut by over a full second as high winds forced the jury to lower the start to the Minschkante section.
- Jared Goldberg (Holladay, UT) followed up a stunning 20th in Friday's super combined to blast from bib 40 to 12th for the second World Cup points of his career.
- Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) also charged from the late start numbers to finish 16th from bib 29. Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, CA) was the only other American to finish inside the points with 28th.
- Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) opted to sit out the downhill in order to rest for Sunday's slalom.
- The shortened course became rutted and bumpy through the tight sections early in the race.
- Audi Birds of Prey super G winner Patrick Kueng of Switzerland won his home race with a time of 1:32.66 for the first downhill win of his career.
- Universal Sports Network will broadcast the Lauberhorn at 1 p.m. ET.
- The U.S. Olympic Alpine Team will be nominated on Jan. 26 following the World Cup slalom in Kitzbuehel, Austria.
QUOTES
Bode Miller
It was pretty windy at the start, but it was a straight tail wind behind you, so I waited in the start for as long as I could hoping a wind would come up because it was there for a few guys. I had nothing out of the start. On a race this short you have to take a lot of risk and you have to be willing to make it stick. I skied pretty well, just not quite the luck in the very beginning.
The weather has been tough this whole year, but it's the same for everybody in terms of the start. I would have loved to run it from the top, but when the wind is the way it is, there's no chance.
I'm figuring out pieces in the equipment more and more. I made a change today that really helped. I definitely can ski better than I did today, but this was a step in the right direction.
Jared Goldberg
It was a confidence builder yesterday to do well in the combined, but I was really looking at the downhill.
I've been doing well in sections this whole year, but the hard thing is that a lot of the tracks it was my first time there and I was just trying to learn the track. But this is my second year here and I've been down it a few more times. I just feel really comfortable on this hill. The snow was holding up decent so it was something I could really push on and the light didn't get any worse
I've been training some tech and it's really helped me work on my skiing and feel more balanced. I was able to attribute that to making good turns. You don't really see it on TV, but one of the most important parts of the course for carrying your speed is right before you go down the Honig Schuss. I saw the ruts and I just tried to cut inside them and push the line as much as I could.
I wasn't trying to think about Sochi too much. This year has been just a good learning experience for me, but after yesterday I was psyched. Last year I got to go to Sochi for the trianing camp and I knew that I have the possibility to go for combined. I'm hoping I can.
Sasha Rearick, Men's Alpine Head Coach
Bode was four tenths out on the top and then he pushed hard, took a lot of risk and made up time. With that risk he still made some little mistakes, but was pushing hard and letting his skis go. In the Zeil S at the bottom he got caught back moving over the roll and that's what cost him a couple of tenths, but it's nice to see Bode pushing hard in downhill.
I'm extremely proud of two other guys today too - Goldberg and Marco Sullivan. The guys in the early draw had a good advantage today, but both Jared Goldberg and Marco Sullivan put the hammer down top to bottom and did a great job with the conditions. I'm proud of both those guys - Marco with his experience and Goldberg as the young guy taking chances and pushing it.
RESULTS
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