WINTER OLYMPICS COUNTDOWN 15 DAYS UNTIL THE GAMES

Alpine Skiing: Bode Miller insists he’s not the favorite in the Olympic slalom, even after recording his third slalom victory and fourth overall World Cup triumph Tuesday at Schladming, Austria. “Typically, the favorites haven’t had that much success,” he said. His victories are the most since Phil Mahre won six races during the 1982 season. “I don’t feel I have to do something.... [but] I’m willing to risk everything,” he said. “I feel ready for it. I feel comfortable.” ... The women’s World Cup circuit moves to Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, for a downhill, super-giant slalom and slalom this weekend. The men will be in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany this weekend for final races before the U.S. Olympic team is announced Monday.

Biathlon/Cross-Country: Kristina Sabasteanski of Standish, Maine, moved up from her start position of 53rd in a 60-competitor field to finish 44th in a biathlon World Cup 10K pursuit at Ruhpolding, Germany, last Sunday .... Among the men, faulty shooting by Jeremy Teela of Anchorage, Alaska, contributed to his 31st-place finish in a 12.5K pursuit.... Nina Kemppel of Anchorage became the first four-time U.S. cross-country Olympian. Justin Wadsworth of Bend, Ore., and John Bauer of Duluth, Minn., will each compete in their third Olympics.

Curling: The Tim Somerville team, which is the U.S. men’s Olympic entry, was 6-1 at the Manitoba (Canada) Curling Assn. Bonspiel.... The Kari Erickson team, the U.S. women’s Olympic entry, has been training in Calgary, Canada, and will compete in the Lethbridge Bonspiel starting Friday in Lethbridge.

Figure Skating: Angela Nikodinov of San Pedro, fourth at the U.S. championships, declined an invitation to the Four Continents competition in Seoul because her coach, Frank Carroll, is helping Tim Goebel prepare for the Olympics. After competing without a coach for a month after the death of her coach, Elena Tcherkasskaia, Nikodinov said she didn’t want to be on her own again.... Kim Seybold-Catron, a 1988 pair Olympian with her brother, Wayne, will undergo surgery for a recurrence of a brain tumor. She teaches hockey and skating in Indianapolis.

Freestyle Skiing: Eric Bergoust won his second consecutive World Cup aerials title last weekend at Lake Placid, N.Y. Alla Tsuper of Belarus won the women’s event.... Jeremy Bloom, who passed on a football scholarship to Colorado to pursue his Olympic dream, won the last event in the World Cup moguls event last weekend at Lake Placid to earn a berth. “It was time to put it on the line,” he said. “I’d be first or I was gonna be 12th, but I wasn’t holding back.” Jillian Vogtli, who had knee surgery after last season, clinched a berth by finishing third.... Aerialist Emily Cook, who dislocated two bones in her foot last week at Lake Placid, will be examined by doctors from the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Ski Team to determine if she can compete at Salt Lake City. If not, she will be replaced before Monday’s deadline to submit Olympic rosters.

Hockey: The Russian Hockey Federation is awaiting a ruling from the Court for Arbitration of Sport on its request to allow San Jose Shark goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to play for Russia at Salt Lake City. Nabokov had been ruled ineligible because he played for Kazakhstan when he was 19 ....The Florida Panthers will allow Robert Svehla to play for Slovakia and Sandis Ozolinsh to play for Latvia in a preliminary round game Feb. 10.

Nordic Combined/Ski Jumping: Bill Demong of Vermontville, N.Y., recorded his first nordic combined World Cup victory last Sunday by defeating Pavel Churavy of the Czech Republic and World Cup leader Felix Gottwald of Austria in a 15K race at Liberec, Czech Republic. Demong and Todd Lodwick were among seven skiers named to the U.S. Olympic team Wednesday.... The U.S. ski jumping team is the country’s youngest ever, with an average age of 19. Named to the team were Alan Alborn of Anchorage, a second-time Olympian at 21; second-time Olympian Brendan Doran, 22, of Steamboat Springs, Colo.; 17-year-olds Clint Jones of Steamboat Springs and Brian Welch of Scarborough, Maine, and 18-year-old Tommy Schwall of Steamboat Springs.

Snowboarding: Lisa Kosglow of Boise, Idaho, and Rosey Fletcher of Anchorage clinched Olympic berths by becoming the top two Americans in the qualifying round of a World Cup parallel giant slalom at Bardonechia, Italy. Among the men, Chris Klug ended a streak of three consecutive fifth-place finishes by winning a parallel giant slalom and moving close to an Olympic berth. One event remains, today at Kreischberg, Austria.

Speedskating: Canadians Catriona LeMay Doan and Jeremy Wotherspoon won the women’s and men’s overall titles at the world sprint championships last weekend at Hamar, Norway. LeMay Doan, who will carry the Canadian flag into the opening ceremony at Salt Lake City, beat out Andrea Nuyt of the Netherlands. Casey FitzRandolph of the U.S. was second overall among the men.