Sochi's men downhill...

I was disappointed, but not surprised by Bode Miller's performance, but I guess pure talent alone can't fill all the gaps that a well rounded program will pad and isn't always enough to provide this essential element called “margin of superiority.”

This said, while the Bernhard Russi's “designer course” contains all the interesting and require ingredients needed in “making” a modern downhill, it also embodies a lot of artificiality.

 Add to this the fact that the ribbon is super icy, but super-smooth, there are very few trees, the spectator has a tough time appreciating the speed and true difficulties of the course, lacking visual reference points, especially under flat light that prevailed on competition day.

All this leads me to say that this ersatz downhill runs don't age too well, except perhaps for Beaver Creek's Birds of Prey and that, at the end of the day, the Hahnenkamm remains a timeless classic.