Miller Makes Right Moves

After nearly falling on the first run, Bode Miller of Franconia, N.H., changed equipment and his plan of attack in the slalom and reclaimed the lead of the overall World Cup standings.

Miller finished 11th behind Italy’s Giorgio Rocca at Wengen, Switzerland, and placed second in the combined, moving past Austria’s Stephan Eberharter into first place.

Miller earned 104 points, raising his season total to 858 and is 43 points ahead of Eberharter. Rocca won in a combined time of 1 minute 47.88 seconds for his first World Cup victory. Akira Sasaki of Japan was second.

Miller struggled to stay on course on his first run, getting thrown left and right and bouncing up after falling on his hip. He finished 1:30 behind the leaders.

The result for Miller was a second in the combined, which adds times from Friday’s downhill to the slalom. Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway, who finished seventh in the slalom, won the combined.

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Anja Paerson of Sweden won her third Alpine skiing race of the season, defeating overall World Cup leader Janica Kostelic of Croatia in a giant slalom at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

Paerson’s combined time of 2 minutes 32.48 seconds was 1.10 seconds faster than Kostelic, who was 14th after the first run.

But Kostelic had the fastest second run -- 1:13.63 -- to finish second. Italy’s Karen Putzer finished third, 1.43 seconds behind.

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Sven Hannawald of Germany won his second World Cup ski jump event in as many days at Zakopane, Poland. He had jumps of 128.5 meters and 130.5 meters for a total of 271.2 points.

Austria’s Florian Liegl was second with 258.8 points after jumps of 128.5 and 125 meters. World Cup champion Adam Malysz of Poland had jumps of 124.5 and 125.5 meters and finished third with 253.5 points.

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Five-time Olympic champion Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway won his fourth straight World Cup biathlon event, beating overall leader Raphael Poiree of France by over a minute in a 12.5-kilometer pursuit at Ruhpolding, Germany.

Bjoerndalen had two misses on the shooting range and finished in 36 minutes 46.3 seconds. Poiree missed four targets and finished 1:22.6 behind after four penalty loops.

Poiree leads the overall standings with 435 points, 23 ahead of Bjoerndalen.

Ekaterina Dafovska of Bulgaria won the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit in 33:20.8. Martina Glagow of Germany was second, 28.2 seconds behind.

Miscellany

Canadian Olympic star Hayley Wickenheiser lost for the first time playing for Salamat in a men’s pro hockey league in Finland. Now she awaits a decision on her future with the second-division club.

Wickenheiser won 10 of 14 faceoffs and played 12 minutes in a 4-2 loss to Jokipojat at Joensuu, the third game of a 30-day tryout with the team.

Wickenheiser became the first woman to record a point in a men’s pro hockey game Jan. 11 when she assisted on a goal. The coaching staff will decide today if she will remain with the team for the rest of the season.