Bode Miller gets silver, fellow American Weibrecht bronze in super-G; US medal count hits 20

Bode Miller leads silver-bronze for US in super-G

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Just a few gates into the super-G, Bode Miller started to wobble.

Sure didn’t last long, though.

Miller regained control and kept picking up speed, getting down the mountain faster than anyone in the field — until Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway came in a few ticks quicker.

Although denied the first gold medal of his star-crossed career, Miller wound up with silver and his second trip to the podium in as many events at the Vancouver Olympics. That’s quite a run for a guy who considered calling it a career and skipping these games.

Fellow American Andrew Weibrecht — 41st in the World Cup rankings coming in — snagged the bronze, upping the United States’ medal count to 20, far and away the best.

Consider this: With six gold, six silver and eight bronze, add up just two of the colors and it would still be more than any other country. Germany is the closest, with four gold and 11 overall.

But all is not well for the U.S. delegation. There’s a crisis in curling.

After an 0-4 start that’s made the Americans the only winless club in the field, the men’s team changed its skip. John Shuster, a bronze winner in 2006, was benched for the match Friday against France.

Shuster understands. After the latest loss, he said, “I’ve let my teammates and USA Curling down.”

At least the women finally broke the ice, so to speak.

Skip Debbie McCormick bumped out a Russian stone with her last rock, giving the U.S. a 6-4 victory — its first after an 0-3 start that had put her stewardship in jeopardy, too.

SUPER-G

When Miller took bronze in the downhill, he was all smiles at the end of the race. He looked more worn out this time.

He let out a big breath of air and quickly shook his head. Then he leaned forward, resting his helmet on forearms still locked atop his poles. Once his lungs stopped burning, he took out his mouthpiece and gave a little fist pump.

With his fourth career medal, Miller regained the title of most decorated American Alpine skier, a day after Julia Mancuso tied him for that honor. The title could keep changing hands with the men’s super combined and slalom still to come; Mancuso has two events left and Lindsey Vonn has three.

Svindal won by 0.28 seconds. To appreciate how big a gap that is, Miller was only .03 ahead of Weibrecht.

Svindal continued Norwegian dominance of a race that joined the Olympic program at the 1988 Calgary Games. Norwegian great Kjetil Andre Aamodt won it in 1992, 2002 and 2006 — giving the Scandinavian nation a 4-for-7 record in the event’s Olympic history.

The race was marred by more horrific wipeouts. The most serious involved 40-year-old Patrik Jaerbyn flying through the air, landing on his back and bouncing hard on the icy surface before sliding to a stop, his face bloodied.

BOBSLED

Swiss brakeman Juerg Egger was strapped to a support board and taken away by ambulance after his two-man sled overturned during practice at the Whistler Sliding Center. There was no immediate word on his condition.

The two-man field will be missing the gold-medal favorite: Beat Hefti of Switzerland, this season’s World Cup champion and a bronze winner four years ago.

Hefti withdrew Friday because of a concussion from an accident during practice Wednesday night. He also cut his leg in the wreck. He hasn’t decided whether to compete in the four-man, which begins next Friday.

SHAUN WHITE

Having already won a pair of halfpipe gold medals, Shaun White would love the chance to double his collection at the 2014 Olympics.

White said he’d consider competing in halfpipe and slopestyle if that event was added to the mix for the Sochi Games.

In slopestyle, riders do huge tricks while going down the mountain and through “features” — rails, big jumps and bumps. At ski resorts, slopestyle is widely thought of as an easier way for amateur snowboarders to do cool tricks than on a halfpipe.

White likes the idea of being in the spotlight a little longer. Odds are NBC would like to have him around more, too.

“It’s a strange thing going to the Olympics, where so many people have four, five events and we just have the one big night,” he said.

FIGURE SKATING

On his first day as an Olympic champion, Evan Lysacek said he’s not even thinking about retirement.

Defending his world championship next month in Turin? Well, that’s still to be determined.

The 24-year-old American also said he was a “little disappointed” his long program was criticized by silver medalist and reigning champion Evgeni Plushenko. He added that Plushenko congratulated him with “a strong handshake.”

SECURITY

The task force overseeing security for the Winter Olympics has done a good job protecting athletes and their families. They’re also keeping a close eye on each other.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said 11 officers have been sent home for breaking rules, including two officers whose cases are being investigated by Vancouver police.

The security task force includes more than 4,000 members of the Canadian military and more than 6,000 police officers from across Canada.

DRUG TESTING

All quiet on the doping front.

As of Thursday night, 1,363 doping tests had been conducted — about two-third before competition, one-third after they competed — and there’d been only one violation. A female Russian hockey player was reprimanded but escaped a ban after testing positive for a stimulant before the games.

“Clearly,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said, “it’s good news if athletes aren’t doping.”