Are: Matt smokes SL 1st run; U.S. shut out

Austrian Mario Matt seized the early lead of the World Championships men's slalom in run one Saturday, targeting the final individual gold of the Are festival on a day when the Americans will be shut out of the medals.
    Sweden’s 21-year-old Jens Byggmark — who stunned the field with back-to-back wins at Kitzbühel, Austria — was an early DNF, and defending World Cup overall champ Benni Raich was well off the pace, though in medal contention.
   Skiing seventh out of the gate, Olympic combined gold medalist Ted Ligety did not finish, a crushing blow after the American was so close to a medal — fourth — in the GS.
    Bode Miller, seeking to become the first male skier with World Championship titles in all five disciplines, ran 31st and skied out on the lower half, one starter after teammate Jimmy Cochran crashed hard. After a strong effort in GS (18th), former Ski Racing Junior of the Year Tim Jitloff started 52nd Saturday and was 4.13 seconds back, into 30th provisionally.
    The U.S. contingent won six medals at the 2005 Bormio worlds but is stuck on three at Are and will likely not medal in Sunday's team event with Miller opting out and Julia Mancuso and Lindsey Kildow also not competing. Like the Torino Olympic Games, Are has been a disappointment for the Americans, who have been enjoying one of their best World Cup seasons ever.

ARE, Sweden — Austrian Mario Matt seized the early lead of the World Championships men's slalom in run one Saturday, targeting the final individual gold of the Are festival on a day when the Americans will be shut out of the medals.
    Sweden’s 21-year-old Jens Byggmark — who stunned the field with back-to-back wins at Kitzbühel, Austria — was an early DNF, and defending World Cup overall champ Benni Raich was well off the pace, though in medal contention.
   Skiing seventh out of the gate, Olympic combined gold medalist Ted Ligety did not finish, a crushing blow after the American was so close to a medal — fourth — in the GS.
    Bode Miller, seeking to become the first male skier with World Championship titles in all five disciplines, ran 31st and skied out on the lower half, one starter after teammate Jimmy Cochran crashed hard. After a strong effort in GS (18th), former Ski Racing Junior of the Year Tim Jitloff started 52nd Saturday and was 4.13 seconds back, into 30th provisionally.
    The U.S. contingent won six medals at the 2005 Bormio worlds but is stuck on three at Are and will likely not medal in Sunday's team event with Miller opting out and Julia Mancuso and Lindsey Kildow also not competing. Like the Torino Olympic Games, Are has been a disappointment for the Americans, who have been enjoying one of their best World Cup seasons ever.
    Italian Giorgio Rocca made a major mistake on the first run and finished a whopping 18.59 seconds back. Canadian Thomas Grandi also was a DNF.
    The major players started in the top 10. Matt, skiing third, finished with the only time below a minute, clocking 59.22 seconds. Germany's Felix Neureuther was second, but a distant 1.14 back, Austrian Manfred Pranger third, 1.19 back, and Raich fourth, 1.23 back.
    ''The first part was not so perfect, but the part where the course drops, that was perfect. I was on full attack,'' Matt said.
    Matt, 27, was the slalom champ at the 2001 St. Anton World Championships and was second there in combined. He has one World Cup win and five podiums this seasons, taking first in the Wengen super combined a month ago. He has been second in slalom twice (both at Kitzbühel) and third twice (Adelboden, Schladming) and stands third in the season slalom standings behind Byggmark and Raich.
    Raich is the defending worlds slalom champ and the gold medalist in slalom from Torino. He criticized the first-run course, which was set by a Canadian coach. Thirteen of the first 30 skiers did not finish. ''It lacked rhythm,'' Raich said. ''I made two or three mistakes, a big one near the bottom.''
    The DNF list was a star-studded one. In addition to Ligety, Miller and Grandi, others failing to finish the first run included Aksel Lund Svindal, Marc Berthod, Rainer Schoenfelder, Akira Sasaki and Reinfried Herbst.
    Second run was set for 7 a.m. ET. The World Championships conclude Sunday with the nations team event.
    Miller lasted longer than many of the other favorites, then split a gate and came to a stop toward the bottom, ending his bid to become the first male skier with world titles in all five events. Miller has finished just one slalom in the last 13 months.
    Ligety fell down to his hip and went out on the top section, got back on course, then skied out again on the bottom and did not finish.
    Byggmark lost control near the end of his run and did not finish. Rocca, the reigning World Cup slalom champion, skied off course with only a few gates to go, hiked back up, and crossed the line more than 18 seconds behind.
    ''I'm disappointed. It's a bad season for me,'' said Rocca, who has struggled with a knee problem and has failed to win this season. ''In the last gates, I just wanted to go straight, that was the temptation. I made the same mistake as Raich. I can't use my knee as an excuse today.''
    Rocca said that he planned to race the second leg to train for Sunday's team event.
    Byggmark said his skiing felt good, but that his skis just skidded away from him.
    ''I'm very disappointed. It would have been nice to show the crowd here I could win,'' he said. ''I just went for it, and sometimes this happens.''
    Byggmark said the lack of direct sunlight made it difficult to perceive depth.
    ''The course wasn't that difficult, but you couldn't see anything,'' he said. ''The snow just melted together and all the contours disappeared.''
    Herbst, the Olympic silver medalist in slalom, was on course to place second until he fell five gates from the end.
    ''It's not that difficult,'' Herbst said. ''I don't really understand why everyone is going out.''
    Berthod, the bronze medalist in the combined last week, and Svindal — winner of the downhill and giant slalom here — also fell victim.
    ''It's the World Championships and everybody wants to do a medal and they risk a lot,'' Berthod said. ''Some guys go out, some guys go fast. The snow is very aggressive and we don't see the ground, the terrain. It makes it difficult.''

— The Associated Press contributed to this report