Lasse Kjus Photo: Nathan Bilow

With the Herminator coming into Friday's giant slalom with two golds, everyone was expecting the flamboyant Austrian to rip off another trademark attacking run to complete a Worlds hat-trick. But it was the quiet Norwegian who stole the show. Kjus pulled off one of his trademark smooth, fluid runs that was good enough to win his second gold and fourth medal in four events.

"I didn't stand in the start thinking 'I have to beat Hermann.' He's very well- known in the United States, but there are so many other skiers who are good..." — Lasse Kjus

Vail's Giant Steps run terminated the Herminator and everyone was trying to think of a nickname for the soft-spoken Kjus.

"I don't compete against Hermann Maier. I compete mostly against myself. I didn't stand in the start thinking 'I have to beat Hermann.' He's very well- known in the United States, but there are so many other skiers who are good," said Kjus, who ripped his second run to edge Liechtenstein's Marco Buechel by just .05 seconds with a combined two-run time of 2 minutes, 19.31 seconds.

"He's not the only one who's a big racer," said Kjus, who has another gold to go with already a gold in the super-G and two silvers in the combined and the downhill.

That may be true in World Cup circles, but in America, Maier is the only European name US sports fans recognize, let alone can pronounce. But Kjus is making a name for himself, becoming only the fourth skier to win four medals in either the Worlds or the Olympics.

"Today I tried not to think about winning a medal between runs. Just to have a medal would have been great. You have to work a lot in your mind," said Kjus, who after the first run was 2nd behind Buechel. Maier was 4th, starting one racer ahead of Kjus in the final run just .63 seconds off Buechel's blistering opening run.

Maier attacked the second run with the vengeance. Roaring past gates with wild abandon, Maier seemed on track to take the lead when he skied off the course just three gates short of the finish and perhaps his third gold medal.

"I didn't see anything today. I knew I had to be aggressive. I got a little behind my skis," said Maier, who tied Kjus for the gold in the super-G and won his second gold with a dramatic run in the downhill.

"I am very, very happy. I have two gold medals in the Olympics and two gold medals in the Worlds," Maier said. "I'm ready for the beach."

Going into the second run, Kjus didn't realize Maier and then 3rd place Benjamin Raich skied off course. Sitting in the start house, it was Kjus vs. Kjus.

"That's what fascinates me about two runs. You can still win after the first run," said Kjus, a mellow man with the body of a NFL fullback. "This is my favorite medal all week. This is my favorite discipline because it is so competitive."

In a surprising giant slalom, pre-race favorite Michael Von Gruenigen skied poorly in the first run and finished a disappointing 7th at 1.93 seconds back. The defending giant slalom World Champion expected more.

"That was my goal, to defend my title. I made too many mistakes in the first run. It was not my optimum race today," said Von Gruenigen. "You've got to have everything to win in the Worlds. I didn't have it today."

Compatriot Steve Locher, another one of Switzerland's aging skiing stars, earned his first Worlds podium thanks to an excellent second run. And thanks to the Austrians, who missed the podium for the first time during this Worlds.

Along with Maier and Raich, Stefan Eberharter skied off course in the first run. Only Christian Mayer could handle the icy steeps, finishing 8th at 1.94 seconds back.

The surprise of the day was Liechtenstein's Buechel. Known as one of the circuit's wildest partiers, the 27-year-old started first and ran a perfect first run. Skiing last among the favorites in the inverted start list for the second run, Buechel didn't hold anything back.

"I knew if I didn't go 100 percent, I would watch others step onto the podium. I had to kick butt. That's what I did," said Buechel, a basejumper and parachutist who owns a home in Florida.

Buechel couldn't match Kjus's excellence, finishing 2nd just .05 seconds back. Tying for fourth was Sweden's Fredrik Nyberg and Switzerland's Paul Accola.

Bode Miller Photo:Nathan Bilow

Meanwhile, the pressure is mounting on the US Ski Team to put up a top-three podium finish with only two events remaining in the two-week World Alpine Ski Championships which end Sunday with the men's slalom.

Chad Fleischer's 6th place in the super-G remains the team's best result. So far through eight events, the young US team has been skunked on podiums. Friday's men's giant slalom was no exception, when the best US result was Bode Miller in 18th place at 3.82 seconds off the winning pace.

"I could have done better, that's for sure. This is the kind of course where a guy like (winner Lasse) Kjus with all his experience can do well," said Miller, who goes into Sunday's slalom with a strong 4th place World Cup result under his belt. "It's a bummer we couldn't have done better. This week has been a disappointment. It's a challenge to try to beat these guys, but we just as easily could have won. We're a young team and in a couple years we're going to be better."

Dane Spencer crossed the line in 24th at 4.92 seconds back while Crested Butte's Casey Puckett finished 31st at 7.46 seconds back. Thomas Vonn didn't finish the second run.

"We're working our way up. This is a young team so it's looking good for the long-term. We've got some guys who can ski, it's just a matter of putting it down," said Spencer, racing in his seconds Worlds. "For us, we're the underdogs. We're just trying to some good results."

American Tamara McKinney won a gold in the combined and a bronze in the slalom when the worlds were last held in the United States in 1989 in Vail. Miller and Kristina Koznick will be the favorites going into the slalom events this weekend.

Women's coach Georg Capaul says Koznick, who won a World Cup race last month, is ready for the challenge.

"She likes skiing when the pressure's on. She likes the limelight," said Capual. "We're here to perform and hopefully we can reward the crowd with a medal."

— Andrew Hood, Mountain Zone Correspondent