VAL GARDENA, Italy (Dec. 19) - The men's speed team continued the U.S. Ski Team streak of packing the points Saturday as Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) led five Americans into the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup top 24 at the famed Saslong Classic downhill. Just one year ago, the U.S. placed five racers in the top 10 and seven in the top 30.

“I skied well,” said Miller, who captured his fifth top 10 of the young season. “I didn’t have any errors. I took some risks. It’s tough to take risks on this course, because risk doesn’t necessarily make you win, but a lot of times it makes a couple of little mistakes that make you lose.”

Charging into a temporary headwind, the seven-time World Cup downhill winner fell a half second behind the pace of winner Manuel Osborne Paradis of Canada at the first in-terval, but Miller held his form throughout the bumpy, winding Saslong course for a finish just .77 back.

Miller said he didn’t see any portion of the course where he could have made a dramatic improvement – besides taking a risky gamble on the entry to the Ciaslat – and thought the leaders benefited from their earlier starts.

"That little stretch of guys had some favorable conditions, and you have to execute, you have to see well, but you do some of the natural comparisons, and some of the better guys skied great …and all of us are back a ways," said Miller, who moved to sixth in the overall standings.

"If you have fast skis and the right start position, you don’t have to take any risks here. Clean, conservative skiing and you’ll win."

Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) charged to an early lead as the fifth racer on the course, laying down a 2:02.16 that eventually landed him 12th to follow last-year’s fourth-place result in the luminescent haze that covered the course.

"For the early guys, you get sun on the top, and the later guys get sun down in the ciaslat, so it’s kind of a trade-off," Sullivan said.

Despite a return to snow little more than a month ago, Steven Nyman (Sundance, UT) scored 18th place for the U.S., with Erik Fisher (Middleton, ID) .12 seconds behind in 19th.

"I felt like I skied really well," Nyman said. “I felt balanced and way more comfortable and confident within my form.

"My body is coming along strength-wise,” he said after his best World Cup downhill finish since he took ninth in Dec. 2008 at Val Gardena. "My body is feeling better and better each day. My knee is tender, but I can manage, it’s not that bad."

Also on the recovery trail from a knee injury, Scott Macartney (Crystal Mountain, WA) raced to 23rd wearing the No. 23 bib, and Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) crossed in a tie with Austria’s Hans Grugger for 24th.

"Every one of the guys stepped up,” U.S. head coach Sasha Rearick said. “Six guys in the top 24, that’s a lot better than we’ve been doing, so it’s a big, definite positive step in the right direction. We saw good skiing out of a lot of the guys."

The World Cup circuit stays in Italy in Sunday’s giant slalom and Monday’s slalom in Alta Badia, Italy.

Rearick said Ted Ligety will return to action trying to improve on last year’s fourth-place finish.

"Ted’s been skiing well. Ted didn’t train a whole lot because he got a little stomach flu, but according to what I’m hearing from our PTs, he’s doing well.

Fans can watch live at www.universalsports.com.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2010 AUDI FIS ALPINE WORLD CUP
Val Gardena, Italy – Dec. 19, 2009
Men’s Downhill

1. Manuel Osborne-Paradis, Canada, 2:01.27
2. Mario Scheiber, Austria, 2:01.40
3T. Ambrosi Hoffmann, Switzerland, 2:01:52
3T. Johan Clarey, France, 2:01.52
5. Michael Walchhofer, Austria, 2:01.75
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9. Bode Miller, Franconia, NH, 2:02.04
12. Marco Sullivan, Squaw Valley, CA, 2:02.16
18. Steven Nyman, Sundance, UT, 2:02.55
19. Erik Fisher, Middleton, ID, 2:02.67
23. Scott Macartney, Crystal Mountain, WA, 2:02.67
24T. Andrew Weibrecht, Lake Placid, NY, 2:03.10
49T. Jeremy Transue, Hunter, NY, 2:05.30

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