Guess what? Skiing begins at Winter Olympics; Miller takes bronze, Vonn sharp in training run

Miller, Vonn in high gear as Olympic skiing begins

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Alpine skiing finally got going at the Vancouver Olympics on Monday, and Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn wasted no time showing why they’re the most decorated Americans to schuss down the slopes.

Under drip-free skies and cold-enough temperatures, Miller was among the first down Blackcomb Mountain, and among the fastest. He broke into a big ol’ grin at the end of his run, which put him in first place at the time. It held up for bronze, a huge step toward making up for the mess he made four years ago in Turin.

“I was psyched,” Miller said. “I skied hard.”

Vonn, meanwhile, had the fastest time through the upper section of the course in a downhill training run. That’s a good indication the days of delays have helped her bruised right shin, and that she’s still the woman to beat — especially in downhill, her best event. It’s scheduled for Wednesday.

Miller finished just nine-hundredths of a second behind the winning time of Didier Defago of Switzerland. That’s the smallest margin between gold and bronze in the event’s history, which dates to 1948.

“It’s such a relief to get a medal,” Miller said. “The fact that those other guys beat me to the hundredth of a second doesn’t bother me.”

It was the first U.S. medal in the event since Tommy Moe took gold in 1994. The only other American to have won a downhill medal was Bill Johnson getting gold in 1984.

Miller won two silver medals in 2002, then went into the 2006 Winter Olympics as one of the headliners, only to make the wrong kind of history. A fifth-place finish in the downhill started his demise; it turned out to be his best finish. A rebellious, couldn’t-care-less attitude made things worse.

Now 32, he’s the father of a young girl and the winner of a U.S.-record 32 World Cup titles. He considered retiring after being shut out at the 2007 and 2009 world championships, but now he’s glad to have kept at it.

His medal was the seventh for the U.S. delegation, three more than any other nation.

The only other events finished by midday in Vancouver were in cross-country. Three more events were to be decided later Monday, with the best chances for more American medals coming in snowboardcross and speedskating’s 500-meter race.

Switzerland’s Dario Cologna collapsed across the finish line after winning the men’s 15-kilometer freestyle cross-country race. Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla led from start to finish to win the women’s 10-kilometer freestyle race.

In the men’s race, Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer won the silver and Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic took bronze. Americans James Southam and Kris Freeman, believed to be the first Olympian with Type 1 diabetes to compete in an endurance sport, were among the bottom five.

In the women’s event, Kristina Smigun-Vaehi of Estonia, who won two golds in 2006 but has struggled this season, took silver and Marit Bjoergen of Norway got the bronze.

Caitlin Compton finished 30th, the best by an American since 1984.

A brief, private memorial service was held at a Vancouver funeral home for the Georgian luger killed in a crash during raining. Then his casket was taken to the airport to be flown home for burial.

The father of 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili told The Associated Press in Georgia that shortly before the fatal run he spoke to his son, who said he was worried about the track’s speed.

“He told me, ‘I will either win or die,’” David Kumaritashvili said. “But that was youthful bravado, he couldn’t be seriously talking about death.”

The head of the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation is OK with the track at the Whistler Sliding Center.

American skeleton athletes trained on the track Monday for the first time since Kumaritashvili’s death. They were among the majority of competitors who started at the top of the track, bypassing the option of starting from a lower spot. Luge events were moved down the track to make races slower and safer, and indeed there wasn’t a single wreck in the finals.

Graham Watanabe qualified second in the men’s snowboard cross competition to be held later Monday. Defending champion Seth Wescott was seeded 17th and Winter X Games champion Nate Holland eighth.