Defending world champion Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) lost his left ski 15 seconds into his downhill run Thursday, then lit-up the crowd by skiing for another 65 seconds before stopping. Austrian Benjamin Raich was gold medalist while rookie Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) was 12th in his first Championships event.

After a run of downhill and two runs of slalom, Raich - Miller's leading challenger for the World Cup overall title - had a total time of 3:19.10 with Norway's Axel Lund Svindal taking the silver medal in 3:20.01 and Giorgio Rocca of Italy in third (3:20.08). Ligety, who hadn't run DH since the Chevrolet U.S. Championships last March in Alaska, had the fourth-fastest slalom time en route to a three-run time of 3:23.15.

But the memorable moment(s) for the day - and perhaps the Championships - came when Miller's left ski kicked out just 15 seconds into his downhill run as he came over the second bump on the 2.9K Stelvio course. He caught an edge, brought the ski in and then - in a flash - it kicked away from him and the binding released.

But the newly crowned super G world champion didn't stop.

Miller stayed upright, almost casually skiing down the sunny course on his right ski. "I wasn't attacking; I was just skiing," he said with his signature poker-face of his one-legged ride. He defended his Atomic bindings, saying no binding could have withstood the second edge-catch - "there was a lot of lateral force there" - and it was just part of ski racing. "I lost a ski. There wasn't anything I could do."

Miller, who plans to race in all five events in Bormio, was disappointed about not defending his combined gold medal "but it was the moment, and then it was gone."

Ligety, silver medalist in slalom at the 2004 Junior World Championships, was 29th in the downhill and moved up in the first run of slalom, then moved up again to 12th in the final run under the lights.

Adjusting his helmet with a piece of tape reading "MOM + DAD" where World Cup racers billboard their main sponsor, he said skiing combined was not designed to make him a medal contender this time, but was a tactic to get him two runs on the Worlds slalom hill at the bottom of the all-purpose Stelvio run.

He'll race SL Feb. 12, the next-to-last day of the Championships. "I'll just go for it. I have nothing to lose," he said, adding he planned to add combined to his regiment over the next couple of seasons, but the focus now is slalom.

"Great job for Ted. He stuck two good runs, got jammed at one point on his second run and lost some time," said Head Coach Phil McNichol, "but he did just what we wanted. Now he knows the hill, he's confident...and we'll see how it plays out."

2005 WORLD ALPINE SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bormio, ITA - Feb. 3, 2005
Men's Combined - 1 run DH, 2 runs SL

1. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 3:19.10
2. Axel Lund Svindal, Norway, 3:20.01
3. Giorgio Rocca, Italy, 3:20.08
4. Michael Walchhofer, Austria, 3:20.55
5. Silvan Zurbriggen, Switzerland, 3:20.98

12. Ted Ligety, Park City, Utah, 3:23.95

DNF (DH): Bode Miller, Franconia, N.H.

— Courtesy of US Ski Team