BORMIO, Italy, 30 January 2005 — American Bode Miller won the super-G world championship title yesterday, eclipsing favorite Hermann Maier and finishing ahead of a trio of Austrians to claim the gold medal.
Miller, joint silver medalist in super-G at St. Moritz two years ago, stormed down an icy Stelvio slope in a time of one minute 27.55 seconds with Austria’s Michael Walchhofer 0.14 seconds behind.
Benjamin Raich picked up the bronze medal but the experienced Maier could manage only fourth place — the first time he has failed to take a podium place in a world championship super-G.
In St. Moritz, Miller took gold in giant slalom and combined and was joint silver medalist along with Maier in super-G. The American all-rounder will now fancy his chances of proving himself to be the undisputed top man in the world.
The 27-year-old Miller has struggled for form of late after making a blistering start to the World Cup tour by winning six of the opening 10 races. But he recovered from an early error when he touched the snow with his backside to deliver an aggressive but controlled run on a challenging, at times bumpy, course on the first day of the two-week world championships.
The result puts the pressure on Maier to deliver in the downhill next Saturday and will raise questions about whether he is beginning to fall from his pedestal at the top of the sport.
The former double Olympic and world champion, who came back from an horrific motorcycle crash in 2001, has managed only one win in super-G this season.
In contrast, Walchhofer’s silver medal is a sign that he is in fine shape to defend his downhill world championship title.
Raich, who is developing into a genuine all-rounder after starting out in slalom, was particularly pleased to have pipped Maier to a bronze medal.
There were good performances from Liechtenstein’s Marco Buechel, who finished fifth, and Germany’s Florian Eckert, a downhiller who has never managed even a top-10 finish in super-G on the World Cup circuit, who was sixth. But American Daron Rahlves, considered a contender, finished a disappointing 10th, 1.70 seconds behind his compatriot Miller.
