KVITFJELL, Norway (AP) -- Bode Miller skied a near-flawless run Saturday to win a World Cup downhill by 0.40 seconds over Didier Cuche of Switzerland.

Miller went down the Olympic course in 1 minute, 46.16 seconds to capture his third downhill victory of the season. In 2005 Miller became the first American since Phil Mahre in 1983 to win the men's overall title.

"It was good, I really pushed it hard," said Miller, who became the fourth American winner at Kvitfjell since Tommy Moe won gold at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics.

Cuche, the defending World Cup downhill champion, was a distant runner-up. Werner Heel of Italy, who won Friday's downhill for his first World Cup victory, finished third.

Miller increased his lead in the overall standings over Cuche and closed in on him in the downhill standings.

"Yesterday, after only one training run, I really didn't feel I could go 100 percent," Miller said. "Today, I knew what it was going to feel like. I knew the bumps. I cleaned up a few of the spots where I had trouble yesterday."

Americans Marco Sullivan and Steven Nyman each crashed into a safety net coming into the final turn. Both were uninjured. Sullivan, who won his first World Cup downhill in late January, also crashed in Friday's race.

Miller posted the fastest split times on the 1.9 miles course.

"I hit really hard on the first big turn. I was pretty smooth up there and carried a lot of speed on the flats," he said.

Miller increased his lead in the overall standings over Cuche to 165 points. Miller has 1,283 with seven races left. Five of them will be held March 12-16 at the World Cup finals in Bormio, Italy.

Benjamin Raich stayed at 1,058 points and dropped to third. The Austrian skied out and finished out of the points for the second straight day. Each win is worth 100 points.

Miller does not want to think about the overall yet.

"We have to wait and see. There are seven races left -- that's a lot of points. You can never count Benny out in the overall," said Miller, who in 2005 became the first American since Phil Mahre in 1983 to win the men's overall title.

"When I get on the course, the last thing I'm thinking about is the overall. I just push it. If I push it too hard, I can easily make mistakes and go out. If you go out ... no points."

In the downhill standings, only five points separate Cuche and Miller.

"The downhill title race is exactly how I'd love to have it," Miller said. "It comes down to the last race and Didier has been so strong all year, and he showed today that with no mistakes, he's right there. Bormio is going to be a challenge."

The super-G is Sunday.

Meanwhile, Italian Denise Karbon claimed the crystal globe for the women's World Cup giant slalom title when the race planned for Sunday in Zweisel was cancelled and replaced by the slalom.

The 27-year-old has dominated the event this season winning five of the six races in the discipline and holds a 181 points lead over Elisabeth Gorgl of Austria going into the final race of the season at the World Cup finals in Bormio, Italy, later this month.

"I would have preferred to win the globe on the ski slopes, even if the weather conditions were really that bad," said Karbon, who was world junior champion in the event in 1999.

Gusting winds had earlier forced the organisers to postpone Saturday's slalom. The race has been re-scheduled for Sunday but the weather forecast is for more wind and snowfalls.

The Associated Press
March 1, 2008

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