U.S. Skier Wins Again in Downhill

Daron Rahlves has suddenly become a one-man American skiing power.

For the second consecutive day, the Californian from Truckee won a World Cup downhill on Lillehammer’s Olympic course at Kvitfjell, Norway.

Skiing in sunshine and ideal conditions Saturday, Rahlves was timed in 1 minute 28.88 seconds to win by .18 seconds.

“The first was definitely more rewarding because I knew I finally got there,” Rahlves said. “To do it a second time to back it up is even better.”

Before his two downhill victories, Rahlves’ previous best was a fourth in a super-G on this course in 1995.

Rahlves’ win Friday was his first on the World Cup circuit. It was also the first by a U.S. man in any discipline since Kyle Rasmussen won in 1995.

“It was easier today,” said Rahlves, whose previous best this season was 15th at Lake Louise, Canada. “After the first win for me I said: ‘OK, I’ve got it and now I’m just going to go out and ski well again.’ I felt no pressure at all.”

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World Cup overall leader Renate Goetschl was aiming for another downhill victory, then bad weather at Lenzerheide, Switzerland, gave her the super-G title. High winds, fog and steady snowfall forced a postponement of the downhill until today, superseding a scheduled super-G.

The International Ski Federation did not try to reschedule the super-G, so Goetschl, with a 137-point lead and only the World Cup finals race remaining, clinched the overall super-G title.

Americans Tommy Czeschin and Tricia Byrnes converted near-perfect runs into victories in World Cup halfpipe events at Park City, Utah. . . . Olympic champion Hiroyasu Shimizu of Japan won the men’s 500 meters in the World Single-Distance Speedskating Championships at Nagano, Japan. It was the first victory for Shimizu at the M-Wave arena since his triumph there two years ago for Japan’s first Olympic skating gold medal.

Tennis

Lindsay Davenport, trying to regain the No. 1 ranking, routed Anna Kournikova of Russia, 6-2, 6-2, to advance to the final of the State Farm Women’s Tennis Classic at Scottsdale, Ariz.

The victory sent the defending Wimbledon and Australian Open champion to her fifth consecutive final. She has won eight of her last 10 finals.

Davenport is looking to overtake Martina Hingis of Switzerland, who defeated Mary Pierce of France, 6-4, 6-3, in the other semifinal.

Sixth-seeded Stefan Koubek of Austria overcame a two-hour delay for court repairs to defeat Richard Fromberg of Australia, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-2, in the semifinals of the Citrix Championships at Delray Beach, Fla.

With Fromberg up a set and Koubek serving at 2-2, 15-30 in the second set, chair umpire Mohamed Lahynia stopped play when he noticed a small tear in the court about a foot behind the baseline. Play resumed about two hours later.

Koubek will play Alex Calatrava, a Spanish qualifier who defeated Paul Goldstein, 6-0, 5-7, 7-6 (3).

Andreas Vinciguerra routed top-seeded Marat Safin of Russia, 6-3, 6-0, in the Copenhagen Open to set up an all-Swedish final against Magnus Larsson.

Larsson, who last month at Memphis, Tenn., got his first ATP title in six years, beat Roger Federer of Switzerland, 6-3, 7-6 (6).

Pete Sampras tuned up for the Davis Cup with a 7-5, 6-1 exhibition victory over Cecil Mamiit at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks.

Track and Field

Dawn Ellerbe broke her world record in the women’s 20-pound weight throw with a heave of 77 feet 5 1/4 inches in the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships at Atlanta.

Ellerbe’s effort far surpassed her previous best of 75-10 at the Millrose Games in New York on Feb. 4.

Meanwhile, Olympic medalists Carlette Guidry, Jon Drummond and Lance Deal added to their collections of national titles.

Guidry was the only athlete of note trying a double, winning the 60 and placing second in the 200.

Drummond won the men’s 60 in 6.46 seconds, with Tim Harden second in 6.48. Drummond’s time was .01 off his personal record, but .07 shy of Maurice Greene’s world record.

Deal won his 12th national indoor title in the men’s weight throw, the most victories by any athlete in U.S. indoor history. He had been tied with quarter-miler Diane Dixon at 11 titles.

Miscellany

A woman who contends she was with Baltimore Raven linebacker Ray Lewis when two men were stabbed after the Super Bowl reportedly is ready to say the victims were part of a group preparing to rob members of the NFL star’s party.

Jessica Robertson has agreed to tell investigators what she saw in return for being spared prosecution for any charges that might arise against her, Akil Secret, her lawyer in Atlanta, told the Baltimore Sun. The judge signed the deal Friday, he said.

Lewis and two acquaintances, Reginald Oakley and Joseph Sweeting, face murder charges in the deaths of Richard Lollar and Jacinth Baker, who were killed outside an Atlanta nightclub early Jan. 31.

Dusty Zeigler, an offensive lineman who started at center and right guard for the Buffalo Bills the last three seasons, signed a multiyear contract with the New York Giants.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Zeigler is expected to fill the center spot that opened when the Giants cut Brian Williams.

Wide receivers coach Craig Heimerdinger is leaving the Denver Broncos to become offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, the Nashville Tennessean reported.

A record 81 teams made a relatively short 20-mile trek from Anchorage to Eagle River, but the 1,150-mile Iditarod Sled Dog Race doesn’t officially start until today, in nearby Wasilla.

Steve Scoggin, a guard for the Mater Dei High basketball team, has made an oral commitment to attend Nevada Las Vegas.