In brief: Miller notches first win since split with U.S.
Bode Miller has had a rough time since splitting from the U.S. Ski Team. His breakthrough came Saturday – his first victory of the season and on one of the toughest World Cup downhill courses.
He put down a nearly perfect run and covered the 2.03-mile Stelvio course at Bormio, Italy, in 2 minutes, 0.57 seconds. Andreas Buder of Austria was second, 0.45 seconds behind, and Jan Hudec of Canada was third, 0.54 back.
Miller had finished in the top eight in six of his first 15 races this season. The coaches and staff members he hired for himself this season were starting to get nervous.
“I think they were getting ready to kill me if I didn’t win a race soon,” said Miller, within one win of matching Phil Mahre’s U.S. record of 27 victories. “They’ve been taking it much harder than I do. I obviously want to win and I take it tough when I make mistakes.
“But for them, they have no control over it all, and they see the way I’ve been training and how much work we’ve put into it.”
After clashing with the U.S. federation over team rules, Miller decided to train and race on his own this season. Complying with International Ski Federation rules, he still wears a U.S. uniform when he skis.
Basketball
Griz player arrested
University of Montana women’s basketball standout Britney Lohman was arrested last week on a misdemeanor drunken driving charge in Missoula and has been temporarily suspended from the team.
The 20-year-old starting forward was not allowed to play in either of her team’s Lady Griz Holiday Classic games over the weekend, the Missoulian newspaper reported.
Lohman, a junior from Bozeman, was arrested Dec. 20, hours after she recorded 18 points and a game-high seven rebounds in a win against Montana-Western.
According to court records, a Missoula County sheriff’s deputy stopped Lohman near a Missoula intersection at about 4:15 a.m. Court records say Lohman had made a wide U-turn on Reserve Street, struck the curb and continued driving erratically for several blocks.
Lohman did not complete a breath test but was taken into custody at the Missoula County jail after the deputy said he detected a strong odor of alcohol.
She also failed multiple field sobriety tests, investigators said.
Miscellany
St. Pierre wins title
George (Rush) St. Pierre won the interim UFC Welterweight title by armbar submission in the second round over Matt Hughes at UFC 79 in Las Vegas, dominating the rubber match between the two former champions.
In other action, Chuck (The Iceman) Liddell bounced back from two consecutive losses in the light heavyweight division to earn a unanimous decision over Wanderlei (The Axe Murderer) Silva.
“The captain of a Scottish Premier League soccer team died in Motherwell, Scotland, collapsing during a game just as he was about to leave the field for a substitute.
Phil O’Donnell, a 35-year-old midfielder for Motherwell, fell to the ground at Fir Park and was carried off on a stretcher and taken by ambulance to a hospital.
Motherwell said its medical staff and that of Dundee United believed O’Donnell had a seizure, but did not elaborate. Club chairman Bill Dickie said there will be an autopsy.
“American Steve Cunningham successfully defended his IBF cruiserweight title, stopping Germany’s Marco Huck late in the 12th round at Bielefeld, Germany.
Cunningham survived some good shots early from the 23-year-old former kickbox world champion and dominated the later rounds.
“Sweden ended Canada’s winning streak in the world junior hockey championship at 20, beating the three-time defending champions 4-3 on Tobias Forsberg’ goal with 7 seconds left at Pardubice, Czech Republic.
Also in Liberec, Tyler Ruegsegger, James vanRiemsdyk and Mike Carman scored to help the United States improve to 3-0 in Group B with a 3-2 victory over Russia.
In the other Group A game, the Czech Republic beat Slovakia 5-2. In Group B, Finland routed Kazakhstan 5-0.