Sunday, Oct. 28, 2001

MILLER 5TH IN SOELDEN RETURN

SOELDEN, Austria (Oct. 28) -- Frenchman Frederic Covili, a World
Championships medal-winner who never had stepped on a World Cup podium,
won his first race Sunday while Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) rebounded
nicely from a knee injury by finishing fifth to lead three Americans
into the points in a giant slalom, the first men's Cafe de Colombia
World Cup race of the Olympic season.

Covili, giant slalom bronze medalist last February at the World
Championships in St. Anton, Austria, held off Lasse Kjus of Norway on
the final run to win with a time of 2:14.50 in clear weather and mid-30s
temperatures with about 15,000 fans enjoying the action. Stephan
Eberharter of Austria, looking to fill the void caused by Hermann
Maier's motorcycle accident in August that caused a compound leg
fracture, was second, just .09 out.

Thirds place was a tie between Swiss great Michael Von Gruenigen and
Fredrik Nyberg of Sweden, who also tore left knee ligaments last season
-- during training in Kitzbuehel, two weeks before Miller's accident.
Their time was 2:14.82.

No Surgery Pays Off

Then came Miller, who injured his left knee when he crashed during the
combined downhill in St. Anton, finishing in 2:14.90. He was 10th in the
first, coming out of the No. 15 start, and hung-up the sixth-fastest
second run. With the guidance of Dr. Richard Steadman, who said surgery
wouldn't necessarily be better than aggressive rehabilitation, Miller
scorned surgery and, as he showed during an encouraging preseason string
of training camps, came back without a problem.

"I felt great in New Zealand. I skied well down there [in August] with
some Norwegians, and I skied well here [in two October camps in Europe]
with Austrians," Miller said. He said he still has to work on his start
in which he powers off to skate out of the start house, but that will
come. "First run I almost fell over and second run I got it better.
Still not as good as I could, but it'll come."

Daron Rahlves (Sugar Bowl, CA) - starting 31st - was 13th in the opening
run and finished 19th in the field of 70 racers. Erik Schlopy, starting
fourth and finishing 16th in the first run, survived a near-fall at the
bottom to finish 22nd. Four other U.S. skiers failed to make the second
run on the Rettenbach Glacier above Soelden.

Rahlves: "It was a blast..."

"Today was a good day. I wasn't quite sure how I was doing in GS. I
haven't trained too much with the GS guys this [pre]season," Rahlves
said. "It was a blast having this crowd all fired up and getting back
into racing. We're excited to start the season. I've really been looking
forward to it. ... It's been a long summer and it's nice to get back
into the racing scene. I feel I need a few races to get myself going, to
feel comfortable in the start.

"The first run I felt a little nervous. It was tough. I skied
conservative in the middle," he continued, "and skied the top and the
bottom well."

Schlopy rocked back on his right hip on the flats of the lower half of
the second run. "I tipped over and made a great recovery but I lost a
lot of speed," he said.

Also returning to action Sunday was Dane Spencer (Boise, ID), who as
battled chronic back problems for most of the last two seasons and who
had been sidelined since last December after tearing ligaments in his
right knee.

Spencer, who failed to reach the run after starting 38th, had not
trained giant slalom until three weeks ago and hadn't run a full-length
GS course until Friday. "I was happy to get the opportunity to race," he
said. "My leg's not 100 percent yet but I think I can do it. It's just
gonna take a little more time."

The Cafe de Colombia schedule goes into its continual racing phase Nov.
22-25 with the Chevy Truck Aspen Winternational in Colorado as men and
women each have another GS plus the opening slalom of the season.

CAFE de COLOMBIA WORLD CUP
Rettenbach Glacier
Soelden, AUT - Oct. 28
Men's Giant Slalom (Season Opener)
1. Frederic Covili, France, 2:14.50
2. Stephan Eberharter, Austria, 2:14.59
3. (tie) Michael Von Gruenigen, Switzerland, and Fredrik Nyberg, Sweden,
2:14.82 each
5. Bode Miller, Franconia, N.H., 2:14.90
6. Lasse Kjus, Norway, 2:15.20
7. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 2:15.21
8. Andreas Schifferer, Austria, 2:15.24
9. Kjetil Andre Aamodt, Norway, 2:15.26
10. Christian Mayer, Austria, 2:15.28
 -
19. Daron Rahlves, Sugar Bowl, Calif., 2:16.05
22. Erik Schlopy, Park City, Utah, 2:16.26
 --
Did not qualify for 2nd run: Chip Knight, Stowe, Vt.; Dane Spencer,
Boise, Idaho; Thomas Vonn, Newburgh, N.Y.; Casey Puckett, Aspen, Colo.

 -- Best in the World! --