Miller 26th in Wengen Slalom

WENGEN, Switzerland (Jan. 19) - Olympic super combined champion Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) made a statement toward defending his gold medal with 26th in the Wengen slalom for his first Audi FIS Alpine World Cup points in the discipline since 2011. Alexis Pinturault of France bested German Felix Neureuther for the win as first run leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria dropped to third. Universal Sports Network will air the race at 1 p.m. ET

HIGHLIGHTS

• Olympic super combined champion Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) finished 26th in the Wengen slalom for his first points in the discipline since Dec. 2011.
• Warm temperatures caused the classic Lauberhorn race hill to deteriorate rapidly for both runs. 
• Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) and Will Brandenburg (Spokane, WA) made drastic mistakes in the opening run and did not qualify. 
• David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, CO), who currently sits 16th in the slalom standings, had a gate snap down on the tips of his skis in the first run causing him to crash out.
• Tim Kelley (Starksboro, VT) started his first Audi FIS Alpine World Cup since 2010, but did not finish the first run.
• Alexis Pinturault of France won his first World Cup win of the season with a come-from-behind victory over Felix Neureuther of Germany.
• Austrian Marcel Hirscher, who leads the discipline standings, won the opening run but made an uncharacteristic mistake in the final and dropped to third. 
• The men's tour now moves to storied Kitzbuehel, Austria for the 74th Hahnenkamm races. The program features super combined, downhill and slalom Jan. 24-26.
• The U.S. Alpine Ski Team will nominate its 2014 Olympic Winter Games atheltes following the slalom on Jan. 26.

QUOTES
Sasha Rearick, U.S. Alpine Ski Team Head Coach
Today was good for a few reasons. It was good to see Bode back in the slalom points and we added another quota spot in slalom, which is something we've been struggling to get. It's also another full race run for him which helps as we get ready for Kitzbuehel and the Olympics.

Ted was skiing fast when he got shot out at the bottom of a flush, he got back in the course and finished, but lost way too much time to make the final. Daver [David Chodounsky] was also skiing really well when a flukey thing happened. A gate snapped down on his tips causing them to cross and him to crash. It's a tough one for him because he's been skiing really well and had a shot at getting into the top 15 in slalom.

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