American Bode Miller won his first World Cup super-giant slalom Sunday, making him the first man to open an Alpine World Cup season with victories in three different disciplines and just the fifth skier to win a World Cup race in all four disciplines.
"It's awesome," said Miller, who won his first career downhill Saturday by almost a second over France's Antoine Deneriaz.
PHOTO: AP
"I didn't have as high expectations of myself coming into these races as the results I have achieved. It's always nice to get surprised once in a while by yourself. To move into that group, that's the most exclusive club there is in World Cup."
Miller won the race in 1 minute, 28.18 seconds. Austrian Hermann Maier was second in 1:28.32 while compatriot Michael Walchhofer was third in 1:28.73.
Canada's Vincent Lavoie, the second skier on the hill, crashed and broke two bones in his left leg. Lavoie was taken to a hospital for treatment of a broken tibia and fibia.
Miller didn't start celebrating until Maier, the defending World Cup super-G and overall champion, came down the hill.
Finland's Tanja Poutiainen won for the second time in three races at Aspen Mountain, beating Italy's Manuela Moelgg by more than a second in a World Cup slalom on Sunday. After winning the giant slalom on Friday and taking third to Croatia's Janica Kostelic in the season's first slalom race Saturday, Poutiainen overcame a couple of loose spots on her final run Sunday to win for the second time in four World Cup races this season.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
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