Inspired Rahlves Wins Downhill

Daron Rahlves of Sugar Bowl, Calif., won his third World Cup downhill of the season Saturday, becoming the first American to win on the famed Lauberhorn course in Wengen, Switzerland, in more than a decade.

Rahlves, the winner at Beaver Creek, Colo., and Bormio, Italy, earlier this season, was timed in 2 minutes 30.54 seconds. Reigning World Cup downhill champion Michael Walchhofer was second, four-tenths of a second behind, with Austrian teammate and reigning Olympic downhill champion Fritz Strobl third, 1.06 seconds back.

Rahlves became the first American to win on the 76-year-old Lauberhorn course since Kyle Rasmussen in 1995. Bill Johnson is the only other U.S. skier to win a downhill on the 2.8-mile course, the longest on the World Cup circuit.

Rahlves said he was angered by being snubbed in Swiss papers.

“I read that ski legend Bernhard Russi had picked his six favorites: Walchhofer, Strobl, Marco [Buechel], Bode [Miller], Bruno Kernen and Hermann Maier. I wasn’t even mentioned,” Rahlves said. “Seriously, it gave me more motivation. I want to be known as a contender.”

Miller, of Franconia, N.H., finished 11th, 2.41 seconds off the pace.

Rahlves moved into third place in the overall World Cup standings behind Benjamin Raich of Austria, who skipped the downhill, and Walchhofer.

Janica Kostelic of Croatia, who won three golds and a silver at the 2002 Olympics, established herself as a medal contender in the downhill at next month’s Turin Games with a victory at Bad Kleinkirchheim, Austria.

Kostelic finished in 1:37.96, .17 of a second ahead of Sweden’s Nike Bent. Michaela Dorfmeister of Austria was third in 1:38.53.

Kostelic became the first skier to win four Alpine medals at an Olympics in 2002, winning gold in the slalom, giant slalom and combined and silver in the super-giant slalom.

Lindsey Kildow of Vail, Colo., finished 18th and lost the lead in the World Cup downhill standings to Dorfmeister, who has 312 points to Kildow’s 287.

Hannu Manninen of Finland edged countryman Anssi Koivuranta to clinch his sixth victory of the season in a World Cup Nordic combined event at Predazzo, Italy.

Jason Smith beat Switzerland’s Marco Hauser and American teammate Jayson Hale to win a World Cup snowboard cross race at Plan de Corones, Italy. Sandra Frei of Switzerland won the women’s cross event, ahead of France’s Karine Ruby and Alexandra Jekova of Bulgaria.

TENNIS

Nieminen Beats Ancic

for First ATP Tour Title

Seventh-seeded Jarkko Nieminen defeated fifth-seeded Mario Ancic, 6-2, 6-2, in the final of the Heineken Open at Auckland, New Zealand, to win his first ATP Tour title.

Nieminen broke Ancic’s serve in the third and seventh games of the first set and in the fifth and seventh games of the second. Ancic made his 25th unforced error on match point.

Andy Roddick fended off four set points in the second set and held off Tommy Haas, 6-3, 7-6 (6), to win the Kooyong exhibition tournament at Melbourne, Australia.

Roddick advanced to the final when Nicolas Kiefer retired because of an ankle injury during the second game of their semifinal Friday.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

USC’s Matua Makes It

Official: He’s Turning Pro

USC offensive lineman Fred Matua, a fourth-year junior who told The Times on Friday that he was forgoing his final season of eligibility to turn pro to help his family’s financial situation, made it official at a news conference and party in Carson that was attended by more than 200 friends and family members.

Matua said agent Steve Feldman would represent him. He also said he planned to complete the one remaining semester of work necessary to earn his degree.

Offensive lineman Winston Justice and safety Darnell Bing will announce today if they will make themselves available for the NFL draft or return for their final seasons of eligibility.

Both players were leaning toward turning pro, according to sources close to their situations.

Today is the deadline for declaring for the April draft.

*

-- Gary Klein

PRO FOOTBALL

Levy Rules Himself

Out as Bills’ Coach

Buffalo Bill General Manager Marv Levy clarified that he’s not a candidate for the vacant coaching job, while Jim Haslett and the team have had preliminary contact about the post.

“I want to say unequivocally that I am here to serve as the general manager/football operations,” Levy said in a statement on the team’s website.

The clarification comes a day after the 80-year-old Hall of Fame coach repeatedly declined to rule himself out as a candidate to take over as coach after Mike Mularkey’s resignation.

BOWLING

Bohn Has Top Spot

at Fountain Valley

Parker Bohn III defeated Jason Couch, 226-182, in the final game of round-robin match play to earn the top seeding for today’s championship round in the Dick Weber Open at Fountain Bowl in Fountain Valley.

Bohn finished with a 9,774 39-game pinfall, which included 15 games of qualifying and 24 games of match play.

MISCELLANY

NASCAR Champion

Stewart Injures Arm

Reigning NASCAR Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart injured his right arm after he flipped his car Friday night during a qualifying race for the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals at Tulsa, Okla. Stewart, who complained of pain in his arm after the race, was examined and treated at a local hospital. A spokesman for Stewart said X-rays and a CT scan were negative, but Stewart was fitted with a cast.