Who's Bragging Now?

Not Bode Miller.

Bad Boy Bode, considered a lock to take the gold in the Men's Combined, blew it.

Mark Staniforth reports:

Bode Miller boasted of skiing while drunk but it was his failure to sway quite enough which cost him a first Olympic gold medal in Sestriere Colle.

The American bad boy was belatedly disqualified from the first slalom run of the men's combined after straddling a gate midway through the course.

Miller, who was not immediately aware of his mistake, had taken a 0.32 seconds advantage into his favoured discipline after going fastest in the afternoon downhill.

And he appeared to have stretched that lead to almost a second over Austrian Benjamin Raich, while one of his main rivals Aksel Svindal failed to complete the course.

Miller shrugged: "I don't tend to get that disappointed. At least I don't have to go all the way down to Turin for a medal tomorrow.

"I didn't protest, it is totally out of my hands and you just deal with it. I've straddled probably more times than most people have finished slalom.

"It's a drag but the downhill was good and I made it to the finish. I was in a position to win by a significant margin even with poor skiing in the first run."

...Missing a medal is nothing new to Miller. He lost his 2003 World Championship gold by flushing it down the toilet, and had his 2005 super-g medal stolen from his coat pocket.

Something tells me that American Ted Ligety, OLYMPIC CHAMPION, won't be flushing his gold medal down the toilet.

Who is Ted Ligety?

He's only the fourth American man to win an Alpine Olympic gold medal.

Read more about the youngest member of the U.S. men's squad.

SESTRIERE, Italy (AP) -- Young Ted Ligety gave the United States the Olympic gold medal that Bode Miller couldn't deliver Tuesday night, uncorking two dynamic slalom runs to win the men's combined and break the Americans' bad luck in Alpine skiing.

The 21-year-old skier from Park City, Utah, in his first Olympics, had a combined time of 3 minutes, 9.35 seconds for the downhill and two slalom runs. Ivica Kostelic of Croatia won the silver medal, 53-hundredths of a second behind the American at 3:09.88. Rainer Schoenfelder of Austria captured the bronze at 3:10.67.

Austrian favorite Benjamin Raich, the leader going into the final slalom run, skied off course, setting off a red-white-and-blue celebration at the finish area.

"It's incredible," Ligety said. "I can't believe it (happened) in combined because I'm not very good in downhill."

He said it would have been even better if Raich had finished.

"I would prefer to win standing up to him," Ligety said.

U.S. skiers Steven Nyman and Scott Macartney tackled Ligety, and the three teammates rolled in the snow together. They rose, and Ligety waved an American flag while he was propped on the others' shoulders.

"I'm not surprised he's on the podium," U.S. men's coach Phil McNichol said. "I'm a bit surprised he won gold."

McNichol may not be surprised that Teddy made it to the podium, but I bet Bode is stunned.


Ligety was mobbed by teammates Scott Macartney and Steve Nyman.


The thrill of victory