Miller, Ligety, Mancuso, Shiffrin lead U.S. Alpine ski team to Sochi

Five-time medalist Bode Miller leads the 20-member U.S. Alpine roster announced Sunday for the upcoming Sochi Olympics.

Miller, at 36, will compete in his fifth Winter Games, four years after taking gold, silver and bronze medals at the Vancouver Games.

Miller is one of three Americans who have already won Olympic gold as the team heads to Russia. Miller won the super combined in Vancouver, while Ted Ligety (super combined) and Julia Mancuso (giant slalom) won gold at the 2006 Turin Games.

Miller missed last year with a knee injury but is rounding into Olympic form, finishing second and third this weekend in races at famed Kitzbuehel, Austria.

“We’re on a really good track right now,” U.S. Alpine Director Patrick Riml said. “All the programs, both the tech and speed athletes, are showing really good improvements and progressions. I’m very pleased with where we are right now going into the Games.”

Conspicuously missing from this year’s roster is defending women’s Olympic downhill champion Lindsey Vonn, forced to miss the games because of a knee injury. Vonn, with 59 World Cup wins, is the most decorated alpine racer in American history.

Hoping to fill the superstar void will be 18-year-old Mikaela Shiffrin, from Vonn’s hometown in Vail, Colo., who will be the gold-medal favorite in slalom. Shiffrin is the defending world champion in that event and also won the slalom title on last year’s World Cup circuit.

The full 20-member team announced Sunday can be found here. The squad won a U.S. record eight Alpine medals four years ago at Vancouver.

The final start spots for individual Olympic races will be determined in Sochi. The first Alpine event is the men’s downhill on Feb. 9.