March 02, 2008	Sunday	Safar 23, 1429

KVITFJELL (Norway), March 1: Bode Miller skied a near-flawless run Saturday to win a World Cup downhill by 0.40 seconds over Didier Cuche of Switzerland.

The American went down the Olympic course in 1 minute, 46.16 seconds.

Cuche, the defending World Cup downhill champion, was a distant runner-up in a race where often only a few hundreds of a second separate skiers.

Werner Heel of Italy, who won Friday’s downhill for his first World Cup victory, finished third, 0.75 behind.

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

Miller, who finished second in Friday’s downhill, became the fourth winner from the United States at Kvitfjell since Tommy Moe won Olympic gold on the same hill during the 1994 Lillehammer Games.

The other two Americans — Marco Sullivan and Steven Nyman — both crashed into a safety net coming into the final turn. Both escaped unhurt. Sullivan, who won his first World Cup downhill in late January, also crashed in Friday’s race.

It was the third downhill victory of the season for Miller, who in 2005 became the first American since Phil Mahre in 1983 to win the men’s overall title.—AP