Austrians dominate with a sweep in the downhill

SESTRIERE, Italy -- Best in the world, who's your daddy?

As big names from the United States stumbled and straddled out of the first run of yesterday's slalom -- the final Alpine race in the XX Winter Olympics -- the mighty Austrians flexed their muscles and took over the podium -- gold, silver, and bronze.

Benjamin Raich, 27, can stake the most legitimate claim to the title of best skier in the world after winning his second gold medal at Turin. He won the giant slalom a week ago.

Reinfried Herbst, another 27-year old, took the silver, edging Rainer Schoenfelder.

Austria won a record 14 Alpine medals and became the first country to sweep the slalom, just the fifth sweep in 122 Olympic Alpine events.

''This is the greatest Olympics ever for us," Austrian Alpine director Hans Pum told the Associated Press.

For the US skiers it was another missed opportunity. Despite Julia Mancuso's gold medal Friday night in the giant slalom and Ted Ligety's gold in the combined on Valentine's Day, Miller and Ligety getting knocked out of the slalom in the first run made the loss particularly painful, as was the final medal total for the US -- just two.

''Of course I'm disappointed," said Ligety. ''I was not there. That's how it goes sometimes."

The two US skiers were among 30 of 97 to ski out of a first-run course that was hard and ''grippy," according to several racers. Nine of the top 29 skiers failed to finish the run.

''We've been showing all season that we can win big races and the guys can ski with the best of the Austrians," US men's slalom and giant slalom coach Mike Morin told AP. ''We handed it to them today. We gave them a triple podium and that hurts."

A highlight for the US was Jimmy Cochran. The 24-year-old from Keene, N.H., started in 38th place and skied to 12th after two solid runs through gates that tripped up many a seasoned veteran.

''It was good out there," Cochran said. ''I was really comfortable. I felt like I could see what was coming and I was skiing pretty well."

But in the second run, Cochran said, ''I feel like I was holding back a little bit. The snow was hard and grippy, but I could have let myself go more."

Another bright spot for the US was Chip Knight, the 31-year-old from Stowe, Vt., who started in 30th place and ended up 18th. His solid run could have been faster, he said, but, ''The gates seemed closer together than in the combined race. I was surprised."

But the day belonged to Raich, who once was criticized because he could never rise to the big occasions. He proved that wrong yesterday.

''Of my first run, I was not very happy," said Raich, who had the fastest times in both runs. ''I was not happy with my feeling. But then the second run was perfect. It was a very difficult course to get a good rhythm. I had to find my rhythm today and I did. It made me very happy."

The dark horse was Herbst.

''At my age of 27, I didn't make the team and had to consider whether to continue," said Herbst, who was fourth and seventh, respectively, in his two runs. ''I knew I had not lived up to my potential. So when I got my chance to get onto the team again, I just wanted to ski well. I did not even think about medals, but to make the silver and to be part of this triple triumph, I am just so happy."

Italians filled the stands to see countryman Giorgio Rocca, the world's top-ranked slalom skier, who was first to go down the hill. But Rocca crashed face-first and did not finish the run.