In brief: Cuche catches downhill win

Didier Cuche of Switzerland won the next-to-last World Cup downhill of the season Saturday in Kvitfjell, Norway, to clinch his first discipline title in the event.

Cuche raced down the Olympiabakken course in 1 minute, 28.51 seconds, edging Erik Guay of Canada by 0.06 of a second. It was Cuche’s first downhill win of the season.

Marco Buechel of Liechtenstein was third in 1:28.94, and Michael Walchhofer of Austria, the defending World Cup downhill champion, was fourth in 1:28.84. American Bode Miller, a former overall champion, was 15th.

The start of the race was delayed nearly an hour because of foggy and snowy conditions at Kvitfjell. The competition was stopped because of the poor visibility by the organizers after 11 skiers completed the course.

The last downhill is next week at the World Cup Finals in Switzerland.

“Julia Mancuso slipped to second in the overall World Cup standings after Tanja Poutiainen won a giant slalom race in Zwiesel, Germany, and Nicole Hosp finished second.

Hosp moved 19 points ahead of Mancuso in the overall standings. Mancuso, who finished fifth, entered the event tied with Renate Goetschl of Austria for the overall lead. Mancuso led after the first run.

Mancuso is attempting to become the first American woman to win the overall title since Tamara McKinney in 1983.

Finland’s Poutiainen won her first World Cup victory in more than two years, finishing the fog-delayed event in 1 minute, 50.12 seconds. Austria’s Hosp was .11 seconds off the winner’s pace, and teammate Michaela Kirchgasser was .14 seconds slower.

To stay in the running for the overall title, Mancuso will need a strong performance in the slalom today and next weekend’s races at the final stop on the World Cup circuit in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

“Steve Fisher led a U.S. medals sweep at the World Cup halfpipe snowboard competition at Whiteface Mountain in Wilmington, N.Y., while Olympic silver medalist Gretchen Bleiler won the women’s event.

Fisher clinched the win with his first ride score of 46.5 – out of a maximum of 50 – and bettered it with 47.5 points on his final ride. Second place went to Olympic rider Tommy Czeschin (44.1), with Elijah Teter, brother of Olympic halfpipe gold medalist Hannah Teter, third (43.2).

“Germany’s Jenny Wolf broke a world record that stood for nearly six years and Sven Kramer of the Netherlands shattered a mark that didn’t last a month.

Wolf broke the record for the women’s 500 meters and Kramer broke the men’s 10,000 mark – both by significant margins – at the World Single Distances Speedskating Championships in Kearns, Utah.

Kramer finished in 12 minutes, 41.69 seconds, more than 8.19 seconds better than his old mark.

Wolf’s 500 time of 37.04 seconds was 0.18 better than the record Canadian Catriona LeMay Doane had held since December 2001.

Football

Raiders add on

The Oakland Raiders added another running back to their roster, agreeing to a $3.8 million, three-year contract with free-agent fullback Justin Griffith.

The Raiders also signed a pair of free-agent tight ends, getting Fred Wakefield from Arizona and Tony Stewart from Cincinnati.

“Offensive lineman Sean Mahan became the Pittsburgh Steelers’ first free-agent pickup of the off-season, agreeing to a five-year contract.

“Arizona signed free-agent cornerback Roderick Hood to a five-year contract. Terms of the deal with Arizona were not disclosed.

Horse racing

Pletcher strikes

Todd Pletcher, the nation’s top trainer, watched two of his many talented 3-year-olds come through in New Orleans, as Circular Quay won the Louisiana Derby impressively, about an hour after Cowtown Cat took the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct.

That gives Pletcher six different winners in six Derby preps this season.