OLYMPIC NOTES

They don’t hand out Olympic medals for downhill training, yet Thursday’s first run on the Grizzly course at Snowbasin may have been a pretty good sneak preview as to how Sunday’s race may end up.

Austrians Stephan Eberharter and Fritz Strobl, the world’s top downhill racers, finished first and second in the first run while American Daron Rahlves nailed his run to finish third.

“That would be a good final standing,” Eberharter joked afterward.

Rahlves, too, thought it was a pretty good top three.

“Yeah,” he said, “but not in that order.”

Eberharter led training with a time of 1 minute 39.07, followed by teammate Strobl at 1:39.19. Rahlves was .70 off the pace at 1:39.77.

Olympic handicappers tend not to put stock in training runs, but this one may have been different because it revealed what most believe: That Eberharter and Strobl are the racers to beat and that Rahlves has a puncher’s chance at a medal even though he ranks No. 19 in the World Cup downhill rankings.

“It’s a blast to ski such a fun hill,” Rahlves, the reigning world champion in super-giant slalom, said. “It definitely fits the style I have. Big turns, big air, all that stuff.”

The men’s downhill course, designed by 1972 Olympic downhill champion Bernhard Russi, is shorter than most of those raced on the World Cup circuit. It is a challenging but technical course, which figures to play to Rahlves’ strengths.

Downhill training runs are scheduled for today and Saturday.

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There’s nothing sadder in sports than cut-down day for Team Austria. Hans? Coach wants to see you. And bring your ski book.

Austrian skiers occupy eight of the top 12 spots in the World Cup downhill standings, yet Olympic rules allow only four skiers per event, meaning several of the world’s top downhill racers won’t even get a chance to ski.

Eberharter and Strobl have clinched two of the four spots, leaving seven top-notch Austrians to battle for the remaining two Olympic slots.

Austrian spokesman Robert Brunner said the final two roster positions will be named after Saturday’s final training run.

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Bode Miller, one of the medal favorites in slalom and giant slalom, is taking a bit of a risk racing in Wednesday’s combined event.

Miller is skiing combined, which literally combines the times of a same-day downhill and slalom, because he has a chance to win a medal.

Miller does not normally race downhill, but has been so dominant in slalom this year he could make up the time difference on his competitors.

The risk is that Miller could get hurt and ruin his chances for gold in slalom and GS.

That is exactly what happened in last year’s world championships at St. Anton when Miller tore knee ligaments in the downhill portion of the combined and could not race in slalom or GS.

“That’s an element of skiing there’s no avoiding,” Miller said of the injury factor. “To try and hide from it would be ridiculous. Coming in here, there’s no reason to be afraid of that. I’m going to come in and ski the downhill hard and ski the combined as fast as I can.”

Miller wasn’t so fast in Thursday’s downhill training run. His time of 1:42.28 was a light-years 3.21 seconds slower than Eberharter’s pace time.

Eberharter will not participate in the combined event.

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Chris Dufresne