Miller, Shiffrin, headline US Sochi alpine team

Ageless Bode Miller and rising star Mikaela Shiffrin headline a 20-strong alpine team for the Sochi Olympics, named by the US ski and snowboard federation. The American alpine skiers will be trying to improve on the eight medals they won at the 2010 Vancouver Games -- twice as many as any other country and the most in US history. However, they'll have to do it without superstar Lindsey Vonn, who won two of those medals but had already lost her bid to be fit for Sochi after reconstructive knee surgery in the wake of her crash at the World Championships last February. Women's alpine head coach Alex Hoedlmoser acknowledged on Sunday that Vonn's absence from pre-season training and her abortive bid to compete this season had contributed to a slow World Cup start for US women. "The other athletes didn't really have the pace that they usually have with Lindsey," Hoedlmoser said in a conference call to announce the team. "Lindsey is always there in training and shows some incredible speed and you know when you train with her and you're close, that you're probably going to be close to being on the podium." But he said the American team, which also features three-time Olympic medallist Julia Mancuso and Stacey Cook, were coming into their own just in time with the Games due to start on February 7. "I'm proud of the progress this team has made the closer we get to Sochi," Hoedlmoser said. "We still have a lot of work to do, but the potential for success is certainly there." Miller, Ted Ligety and Mancuso have all won Olympic gold while 18-year-old Shiffrin is a world champion. Miller, 36, will be skiing in his fifth Olympics and will be the oldest US Alpine skier to compete in the Games. His five Olympic medals are the most for an American alpine skier, but his only gold was in the super-combined four years ago. At Kitzbuehel this weekend, he came away with a second and third place in World Cup races, a sign that he is back after missing all of the 2013 season in the wake of knee surgery in 2012. Luke Bodensteiner, the executive vice president of the US federation, said he US officials always believed Miller would be back for another Games, and that the veteran is keen to cement his Olympic legacy. "We believed in him and believed he could make an effective return from his injury," Bodensteiner said. "I think Bode is very cognizant of his stature, very cognizant of the legacy he wants to leave and he's got some unfinished business and really wants to see this through." Ligety is going to his third Olympics. The 2006 combined gold medalist is a medal contender in the giant slalom and super combined. In 2013, he became the first man in 45 years to win three gold medals at a single world championships. Mancuso, a three-time Olympic medalist, is going to her fourth Olympics. The 2006 giant slalom gold medalist notched her first three top-10s of this World Cup season in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, last week but is still seeking her first podium of the campaign. Shiffrin, 18, is the reigning world and World Cup champion in the slalom. She again leads this season’s slalom standings and will go into Sochi as the favorite in that event. Hoedlmoser isn't worried that Vonn's absence will put too much pressure on Shiffrin. "I'm not worried about the Olympics, that it's going to overwhelm her," he said. "There's nothing else she wants right now except success. It was no different than when Lindsey was her age. She was the same way." The 20 alpine skiers named Sunday are part of a 94-strong squad that will represent the United States in all ski and snowboard disciplines at Sochi. Source: AFP