Ligety harvests Torino gold

SESTRIERE, Italy — And the last shall be first and the first shall be last.

Not usually in alpine skiing, but that's almost the way it turned out Tuesday for the U.S. men's team in the combined event.

Bode Miller, the face on the magazine covers, the man who put teeth into the sound bite, was in first place after the downhill portion of the competition, with just two slalom runs standing between him and his first Olympic gold medal.

Now we're talking some serious magazine covers.

Unfortunately, what was mostly standing in Miller's way was gate 42 of the first slalom run in the nightcap of this day-night doubleheader.

Miller, going full-tilt near the bottom of the course, straddled the gate slightly rather than going around it. He was disqualified for the bobble, his second big disappointment of the Olympics.

"Obviously, it's a drag, but I made it to the (bottom)," Miller said. "At least that's half the battle for me."

Not finishing slalom isn't news for Miller, who completed just two of seven on the World Cup circuit this season. But the flip side of what happened to the U.S. team in the combined was extremely unexpected.

Ted Ligety, a first-year World Cup competitor from Park City, is the kind of guy who can sneak onto the magazine covers only in the company of others. Until now, that is.

After finishing in 32nd place in the downhill portion, Ligety put together one very good run on the difficult slalom course and then a spectacular one. When all the other racers had either finished slower or missed gates as they tried to catch him, Ligety had become just the fourth alpine gold-medal winner in U.S. men's Olympic history.

Phil Mahre, Bill Johnson, Tommy Moe, Ted Ligety.

Wasn't the next name you were anticipating, was it?

Well, the U.S. ski federation would agree with you. Ligety is only 21 years old and has come a long way in his first season. He's ranked third in the world in the slalom and is acknowledged to be a burgeoning star in that event, but, until Tuesday, never had won a major race of any kind in his life. His previous best finish in the combined was 10th.

"I never expected this," Ligety said.

The guy with all the expectations was Miller, who had a significant lead after the downhill and was in control of the race until he nipped the gate.