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Bode Miller Earns First Gold

Lives up to expectations in Super Combined event.

The Super Combined event was the missing link in champion alpine skier Bode Miller’s career until Sunday, when the leading American racer grabbed the gold for the first time. Though he started out in seventh place in the slalom part of the event, which begins with a morning downhill, he passed the other six skiers to earn the top position on the medal stand. Norway’s Aksel Svindal had been in first place, but fell at the bottom of the hill. With a first-place time of 2:44.92, Miller’s Super Combined gold is his third medal of the Vancouver Games and fifth Olympic medal overall, both of which are records for American alpine skiing. “I feel good,” Miller said after the downhill portion. “My slalom has been setting up pretty well.” Looks like the Turin curse is over.