Rahlves Sends an Instant Message

Gold-seeking American Daron Rahlves ripped through the first of three Olympic downhill training runs Thursday and became the early bee-line favorite to win Sunday’s signature race.

Rahlves scorched the course at Sestriere Borgata in 1 minute 49.46 seconds, making his message clear to the three nearest Austrians in his rear-view goggles.

Rahlves bested World Cup downhill leader Michael Walchhofer by 1.21 seconds, the already legendary Hermann Maier by 1.27 and Klaus Kroell by 1.39.

“The race comes down to me,” Rahlves proclaimed afterward. “I’m my biggest challenger. If I allow myself to ski well and relax, I have a great chance to win. This is a great hill for me.”

The Olympic downhill is the only mountain left to descend for Rahlves, who at 32 will retire after this season. It doesn’t hurt that he won the last downhill raced at Sestriere, in 2004.

“To come down, first run, and put the smack down like that, that scares everybody,” teammate Marco Sullivan said of Rahlves.

Training runs can be deceiving because some skiers intentionally sacrifice speed to experiment with lines and techniques.

Rahlves, though, appeared to use his practice time to make a statement.

“Daron is ready,” teammate Steve Nyman said. “It’s so cool to see that he laid it down on those guys. I hope he keeps it up. The guy wants it bad and he can do it. And he knows this course.”

Bode Miller, the defending World Cup overall champion and the best U.S. downhill racer behind Rahlves, ended up 16th, 2.75 seconds off the lead.

The United States will complete its four-man downhill team over the next two days with three racers -- Nyman, Sullivan and Scott Macartney -- battling for two slots.

The third spot will go to the winner of today’s training run, the final position being awarded Saturday.

The ski team decided on a “race-off” rather than having to choose among three skiers of comparable ability.

Nyman and Macartney have already secured spots in other events, but Sullivan’s Olympic hope hinges on making the downhill cut.

“There’s no holding back for me,” Sullivan said. “Obviously, I would have been happier to get a spot outright, but the way we were all so close together, it was really the only way I think, the only fair way.”

Among the three battling Americans, Nyman was fastest Thursday at 1:52.18, good for 14th, followed by Macartney at 1:52.54 and Sullivan at 1:53.37.

Sullivan is the answer to a trivia question: Who was the top U.S. finisher in downhill at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games?

Sullivan finished ninth in the event four years ago, ahead of Rahlves and Miller, but he has fought injuries ever since.

“I proved the last Olympics I can come through in big events and that’s what I’m looking to do here,” Sullivan said. “I know no one’s really counting me as a favorite, but I think I’ll be in there.”

Sullivan had a quick quip when asked if he would feel like an Olympian even if he did not ending up racing in Turin.

“I’ve got the coat,” he said referring to the Torino 2006 Olympic jacket he was wearing, “and I’m not giving it back.”