BODE STRIKES FOOL'S GOLD.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

SESTRIERE, Italy - Bode, Bode, Bode.

It was right there. They were practically handing him the gold, begging him to take it, readying that new wave of magazine covers.

But Bode Miller being Bode Miller, nothing is allowed to unfold as anticipated. Like America's favorite rebel has some unwritten rule to always come through with the unexpected.

Even when everything seems under control. Especially when it appears under control.

Tuesday, Bode was in position to add a gold to the two silvers he won at Salt Lake City, to use the Turin Olympics as a stage for his consideration as the greatest American skier ever.

And he went belly up. Blew it big time. Turned almost certain victory into another failure. An increasingly familiar pattern.

He wasn't wasted, it was just wasted opportunity.

As you can imagine, Bode was simply devastated.

``At least I don't have to go all the way down to Torino (for the medal ceremony) tomorrow,'' he said.

No, he saved that long drive down the hill today for little-known teammate Ted Ligety, who absolutely stunned the field by sweeping to the gold medal in the combined downhill-slalom.

A gold medal that seemed Bode's, that seemed out of reach of everyone else. In the downhill Bode blew by everyone, particularly the best slalom skiers. He led by 1.16 seconds over Austria's Michael Walchhofer and by 2.06 over Austria's Benjamin Raich.

There are two slalom runs figured into the combined winner, and after Bode's first run he led by Raich by nearly a second.

Or so it seemed for about 30 minutes.

Then an asterisk went next to his name on the leader board. And then it just vanished.

Bode was disqualified for straddling a gate. Raich became the new leader.

Afterward, Bode acted like he was returning from a daily training session. If he was any more nonchalant, he would have been asleep.

``I've straddled probably more times than most people have finished slalom,'' Bode said. ``It's a drag, but the downhill was good and I made it to the finish. That's at least half the battle for me.''

Half the battle he normally loses. Of the seven slalom races he has entered this season in World Cup competition, he has finished only two.

We're told he's aggressive, reckless, rebellious, controversial. What he's not, is an Olympic champion.

He took fifth in the downhill and now in the combined - probably his best chance for a medal - he's DQ'd.

The only other of the 57 combined racers disqualified Tuesday was Brazil's Nikolai Hentsch. A Brazilian, that you can understand. A man who is supposedly the best skier in the world, that's something else.

And Bode, the great competitor, just kind of shrugged.

``I don't tend to get that disappointed,'' he said.

He previously was disqualified this season for the exact same infraction last month in Wegen, Switzerland. We're not learning here.

There was a lot more at stake this time. He had comfortable lead. He had to ski hard, but not overly aggressively. The gold was right there.

But going through the 42nd of 56 gates in a narrow stretch, replays showed his left ski clearly went over the inside of the gate.

U.S. Alpine director Jesse Hunt watched the replay and did not protest.

``We looked at it enough times,'' Hunt said. ``We're satisfied.''

Bode said he was unaware he had straddled the gate.

``It's not the first time it's happened,'' he said. ``I have no idea where I hooked the gate.''

Bode looked less than smooth during his slalom run, and if it's against his nature to let up with a lead, he said that was hardly the problem.

``It wasn't so much as going conservative as bad skiing,'' he said.

Yet despite that he still was in great position to win, still had a prime opportunity to fulfill his expected greatness. And again couldn't pull it off.

``I came out of the downhill and I was ready to be on the podium,'' he said. ``A few things didn't go my way. Obviously, I was in position to win by a significant margin even with poor skiing in the first run.''

Yet again he didn't, again he was left off the podium. Whether it's because of just not being good enough, crashing or disqualifying, it all adds up to the same in the end.

Bode without a medal. Bode not living up to the almost uncontrollable hype.

``I was pretty bummed for him,'' Ligety said. ``You never want to see your teammate go down that way. I don't think there would have been way I could have surmounted him today.''

Probably not. Raich went off course on his final run and failed to finish. A routine final run, and Bode gets his first gold.

Instead, something else happened. Something else increasingly does. Bode has three events still to ski, and although not favored, is capable of medaling in any of them.

Time is just about out for this coronation. Time for Bode the Great suddenly is an enemy.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) Bode Miller reacts after being disqualified from the combined for straddling a gate.

Luca Bruno/Associated Press

Box:

LESS FILLING