Bode Miller First U.S. World Cup Winner in 22 Years

James Joyner · Saturday, March 12, 2005 · No comments

As with bicycle racing, downhill skiing is a sport that Americans are interested in if and only if an American might actually win. The level of interest has just gone up, for a day or so at least:

Yahoo! News – Miller First U.S. Cup Winner in 22 Years

Bode Miller became the first American in 22 years to win skiing’s overall World Cup title. He finished ahead of his only remaining challenger, Benjamin Raich of Austria, in the season’s final giant slalom Saturday to capture the crown. The last non-Europeans to win the overall championship were Americans Phil Mahre and Tamara McKinney in 1983. Miller finished second in the giant slalom, 0.68 seconds behind Stephan Goergl of Austria, who won with a two-run time of 2 minutes, 10.51 seconds. Raich came in third, 0.80 behind.