Janka in giant slalom pole as Miller bombs

American Bode Miller will not add a giant slalom podium to his three-medal Olympic haul after he crashed out on the first leg of the event on Tuesday, with Swiss all-rounder Carlo Janka in pole position.

Janka, the defending world giant slalom champion, clocked the fastest time of 1min 17.27sec down the Dave Murray course that featured 52 gates over a vertical drop of 405 metres.

Miller, starting with bib number 31, looked decidedly ragged in the first third of the course and when he tried to push the pace he lost an edge and momentum around a series of tight gates.

The 32-year-old claimed gold in the super-combined, silver in the super-G and downhill bronze as part of a US team that has taken eight of 18 medals on offer here before Tuesday's race.

In a boost to the Austrian men's team, pilloried for finishing medal-less after the first three events, Romed Baumann was just two-hundredths off Janka's pace.

Baumann's teammates Marcel Hirscher and Benjamin Raich, the defending Olympic champion and world silver medallist, were still in the hunt at 0.21 and 0.39sec respectively.

"I am pretty satisfied," said Raich. "I lost a bit of time at the top but at the bottom I had no problem."

But ominously, Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal, who won giant slalom gold in the Are world championships in 2007 after finishing sixth in the Turin Olympics, sat in third at 0.16sec.

Svindal has come into these Games in prime form, winning super-G gold and downhill silver and coming close to making the super-combined podium before crashing out with the finish line in view.

"I am the third best in the world right now. So I am doing pretty good," said Svindal.

"I was tired today but I gave it a push and I think all of us in the top five have a chance to get to the podium.

"It is going to be a tight race. I am in the hunt for the medals."

Italian Massimiliano Blardone was fourth fastest at 0.20sec.

American Ted Ligety, the world bronze medallist fresh from winning the giant slalom at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia and having made this discipline his main Games target, finished in eighth at 0.60sec.

"I made some small mistakes here and there," admitted Ligety. "I had a little advantage of running earlier. I know I can make up the time.

"I am comfortable where I am. Six tenths of a second is not really enough of a buffer for those guys to feel super confident."

Switzerland's Didier Cuche, who was overshadowed by his teammates in both the downhill and super-G, timed a disappointing 21st fastest run and will be praying for a miracle to make up his 1.48sec difference.

The second run of the giant slalom, scheduled for 1pm local time, is dependant on results from the first run: the skier placed 30th will start, with the leader running last.