Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Dec. 21, 2001--Fredrik Nyberg of Sweden, showing no signs of problem from the torn knee ligaments of less than a year ago, won a World Cup giant slalom Thursday in 2:01.66, finishing .25 ahead of Austrian Benjamin Raich.
Three Americans scored points with Bode Miller (Franconia, NH), in 16th place, Erik Schlopy (Park City, UT) 22nd and Dane Spencer (Boise, ID) 25th. Outdoor Life Network will televise coverage of the race on Christmas Eve (Monday) at 9 p.m. EST.
"It was okay, but we have a little set of expectations these days. Bode had some problems at the top on his first run and then skied well," said Head GS/SL Coach Jesse Hunt, "but on the second run, he skied the top well and ran into problems on the bottom. It was great to see Dane in there and Erik scoring, too.
The weather was great but it's a sprint course, less than 60 seconds on the first run, so the guys had some stuff thrown at 'em they didn't expect. Friday is the last GS before Christmas, so they're ready to rip. They know they've got to charge and they want to finish on an up-note," Hunt said.
He said Chip Knight was shooting for a top-20 result after being 18th and 19th in the first two intervals, but he went down on a hip at the bottom of his run and missed qualifying.
CAFE DE COLOMBIA WORLD CUP
Kranjska Gora, SLO - Dec. 20
Men's GS-1
1. Fredrik Nyberg, Sweden, 2:01.66
2. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 2:01.91
3. Uros Pavlovcic, Slovenia, 2:02.00
4. Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 2:02.05
5. Sami Uotila, Finland, 2:02.33
16. Bode Miller, Franconia, N.H., 2:03.17
22. Erik Schlopy, Park City, Utah, 2:03.60
25. Dane Spencer, Boise, Idaho, 2:03.84
