VAL D’ISERE, France — The men’s super-combined event scheduled for today might just be the most open race at the world championships — and Bode Miller’s best chance of a gold medal.
The American skier is one of the favorites to succeed Daniel Albrecht, the super-combi champion at the 2007 worlds who is currently in an induced coma in Austria after a horrific training crash. It would also be Miller’s first victory of a season marked by unpredictable results.
Eighteen different men have won in the 26 World Cup events run, and the first two gold medalists at the worlds — Didier Cuche in super-G and John Kucera in downhill — were winless before arriving in the French Alps.
Miller won six times on his way to the overall World Cup title last season, including a super-combi in Val d’Isere last February during the same format of a shortened downhill run and a slalom leg.
The 31-year-old had a midseason slump in slalom when he was hampered by an ankle injury, but has rediscovered his form with two top-10 finishes in the past two weeks.
“Judging how he skied slalom in the last races in Schladming (Austria) and Garmisch (Germany) and with how he skied downhill here, he should be in contention,” said Forest Carey, Miller’s coach.
Miller finished eighth in Saturday’s downhill.
The combined slalom start has been pushed back to 5 p.m. local time to accommodate the rescheduled women’s downhill. That race was canceled Sunday by heavy snow and now has a 1 p.m. time slot today.
