Bode Miller wins World Cup silver in Chamonix downhill

Olympic champion Bode Miller missed his second win of the World Cup season Friday by one-hundredth of a second in a downhill in Chamonix, France, finishing second to Austrian Klaus Kroell.

Switzerland’s Didier Cuche saw his two-race winning streak snapped, but still managed to finish on the podium in third. And Canada’s Erik Guay just missed his second straight podium, finishing tied for fourth with Austria’s Romed Baumann. Guay was four hundredths of a second out of third and just.08 off Kroell’s winning time.

Miller said the courses and the snow conditions have a lot to do with how close the speed races have been lately.“Because everyone's so close together with the ability, and the courses seem to be easier -- they're slower -- there's less things that separate the field,” Miller said. “A lot of these races are unbelievably close. That's a challenge in itself to really make sure that you stay focused and pay attention to the things that matter.”

The two-time overall champion and five-time Olympic medalist wasn’t sure where he lost his hundredth of a second.

“It's tough,” Miller said. “There's so many places where a hundredth can come or go. I didn't really have a great reach for the finish line, which I always try to do well. That's the worst place to lose it, right out of the start or right at the finish line.”

Today marked Miller’s fourth podium so far this season. His only win came in the downhill on the Birds of Prey course in Beaver Creek in December.

For a short while, Canada stood one-two in the leader’s box, with Jan Hudec posting an impressive run and winding up sixth overall.

“I watched Jan’s run at the top and I thought for sure he would be the winner,” Guay said. “So when I came down in first I was like, ‘Wow. I’m pretty sure I just won this.’ It was pretty cool when we were sitting there 1-2, but unfortunately, it seemed like the conditions changed quite a lot and people were putting down some extremely fast times.”

Guay last weekend turned in his 16th career World Cup podium, finishing second in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Miller was chasing his American men’s record 34th career World Cup win, which would have put him one behind Austria’s Benjamin Raich in sixth place on the all-time career victory list.

He’ll get another shot when the men compete in a second men’s downhill in Chamonix on Saturday. Today’s race was a replacement for December’s cancelled race in Val Gardena, Italy.

River Name / Location	Stream flow, ft3/s	Gage height ft
Gore Creek
At Upper Station, Near I-70 Twin Bridges	n/a	4 ft
Booth Creek	n/a	4 ft
Abv Red Sandstone Creek At Vail	177	6 ft
At Mouth Near Minturn	217	7 ft
Beaver Creek
At Avon	21	2 ft
Lake Creek
Near Edwards	80	1 ft
Cross Creek
Near Minturn	104	4 ft
Homestake Creek
At Gold Park	121	5 ft
Eagle River
East Fork Eagle River Near Climax	n/a	2 ft
At Red Cliff	30	3 ft
Near Minturn	237	4 ft
Wastewater Treatment Plant At Avon	684	5 ft
Below Gypsum	853	5 ft
Colorado River
Near Kremmling	407	4 ft
Near Dotsero	1,630	3 ft
Below Glenwood Springs	3,180	5 ft
Near Cameo	3,760	6 ft
Below Grand Valley Div Nr Palisade	2,080	5 ft
Near Colorado-utah State Line	4,100	4 ft
Near Cisco, Ut	4,020	3 ft
At Lees Ferry, Az	12,000	9 ft
Near Grand Canyon, Az	12,300	9 ft
Yuma Main Canal Ww At Yuma, Az	1,020	10 ft
Roaring Fork River
Abv Lost Man Cr Near Aspen	n/a	n/a ft
Ab Difficult C Nr Aspen	52	1 ft
Near Aspen	80	1 ft
Near Emma	476	6 ft
At Glenwood Springs	1,180	3 ft
Hunter Creek
Near Aspen	56	2 ft
At Aspen	48	4 ft
Frying Pan River
Near Ruedi	113	2 ft
Crystal River
Abv Avalanche Crk, Near Redstone	540	2 ft
Arkansas River
Ef Arkansas R At Us Highway 24, Nr Leadville	47	3 ft
Near Leadville	86	5 ft
Below Empire Gulch Near Malta	159	4 ft
Below Granite	438	4 ft
Near Nathrop	460	4 ft
At Parkdale	469	3 ft