Bode Miller wins overall title
WORLD CUP SKIING
Lindsey Vonn has virtually clinched the women's overall championship as well; simply finishing Friday's slalom in the Alpine finals should give her the crown.
Bode Miller did it and it's all but a done deal for Lindsey Vonn.
Miller clinched his second overall title today at World Cup Alpine Finals in Bormio, Italy, and it's only matter of points and hours before Vonn takes her official bows.
Miller and Vonn are on the precipice of becoming the first American male and female ski racers to claim the coveted overall titles in the same season since Phil Mahre and Tamara McKinney did it in 1983.
Miller, 30, needed only a 12th-place finish in the super-giant slalom to clinch the crown after Switzerland's Didier Cuche, the only man who could catch Miller, pulled out of Saturday's slalom. That gave Miller an insurmountable 191-point lead with two races left.
Miller also won the overall title in 2005.
Vonn effectively closed out her nearest competitor, Germany's Maria Riesch, by finishing second in today's super-G.
The 23-year-old Vonn should officially clinch the title by finishing Friday's slalom in Bormio. Racing concludes for the women with a giant slalom on Saturday.
Vonn has already clinched the World Cup downhill title. The only other American skier, man or woman, to win that discipline was Picabo Street, who did it twice.
Ted Ligety, gold medalist in the Olympic combined at the 2006 Turin Games, can claim the World Cup giant slalom title with a strong finish in Friday's race at Bormio.
chris.dufresne@latimes.com
