Bode Miller's podium streak ends; Maier and Ludlow healthy

Bode Miller’s podium streak ends; Maier and Ludlow healthy{mosimage}Bode Miller, the runaway leader of the men’s World Cup standings, crashed in the first run of the Beaver Creek giant slalom, ending an exhilarating streak of World Cup performances. Miller was about 15 seconds into the course, passing into the shade of the tree-island above the Screech Owl jump, when he leaned in and bounced on his hip before catching and edge and piling into a cluster of coaches, who barely dodged him as he slid into the B-nets.

“It was really fast into that section,” said Mike Morin, the head tech coach for the American men’s team. “The snow goes from being icy to grippy, and right there he over-compensated. He was obviously packing a lot more heat than anybody coming into that section.”

Libby Ludlow is okay. Her evacuation by helicopter from Lake Louise in yesterday’s downhill was “routine procedure” for an injury, according to a team spokesperson.

Hermann Maier is also healthy. His coaches said yesterday that he would have his knee inspected by team doctors. He raced this morning, finishing seventh in the first run of the race.

Jimmy Cochran had a surprise in the first run of the Beaver Creek giant slalom. He finished 31st, but then Fred Nyberg of Sweden was disqualified for lacking a FIS plomb on his speed suit. So Cochran officially finished 30th, and will start first on the second run.