Beaver Creek – Bode Miller had the kind of scare racers and coaches dread during Friday’s World Cup downhill when a Slovenian coach slipped and tumbled across the racing line moments before Miller came roaring through in excess of 60 mph.
The Slovenian coach bent over to pick up a start list, slipped on the slick, icy race surface and couldn t stop his fall. Miller noticed him in his peripheral vision, but quickly determined he wouldn t have to take evasive action.
“He was going right across the track in a big ball of snow, said Miller, who won the race. By the time I got to that turn, I realized he was going to be out of the way.”
Miller conceded it was “a little bit of a distraction,” but at highway speeds on one of the World Cup s most demanding tracks, he had every reason to focus on what was ahead of him, not behind.
“Once I realized I wasn’t going to hit him,” Miller said, “he was the last thing on my mind.”
It was the kind of incident that gives racers and coaches nightmares. French racer Regine Cavagnoud died from head injuries after colliding with German coach Markus Anwander during preseason training in Austria in 2001. Slovenian coaches apologized to World Cup officials and U.S. coaches for Friday’s mishap.
“We were very lucky,” said chief FIS race official Guenther Hujara.
