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SOELDEN, Austria -- Ted Ligety maintained his dominance in giant slalom by taking the season-opening World Cup race by a 0. Pat McAfee Womens Jersey .79-second winning margin Sunday, while Bode Miller finished 19th upon his return to the circuit following a 20-month injury layoff. Ligety, who won six of eight races last season and defended his world title in GS, held on to his massive 0.90-second first-run lead to finish in an aggregate 1 minute, 59.50 seconds. Alexis Pinturault of France came second, and overall champion Marcel Hirscher of Austria was 1.02 behind in third. While winning his 18th career title -- all in GS -- Ligety became the first to win the season opener in three straight years, and he matched Austrian standout Hermann Maiers three victories on the Rettenbach glacier in 1998, 2000 and 05. Torontos Phil Brown started 38th and finished 41st in the first run in 1:05.36. Calgarys Erik Read started and finished 60th, while Dustin Cook of Lac-Sainte-Marie, Que., started 65th and finished 64th and Torontos David Donaldson started 43rd but did not finish his run in his World Cup debut. Only the fastest 30 racers from the first run advance to the second in giant slalom races. Erik Walden Jersey .C. - The New Orleans Saints will have to wait another week for a chance to clinch a playoff spot. DQwell Jackson Colts Jersey . -- One game. After a season featuring more losses than wins, thats all that separates the New York Knicks and the final post-season spot in the weak Eastern Conference standings.Legendary American snowboarder Shaun White failed to win a medal in mens halfpipe at the Sochi Olympics on Tuesday. White came in fourth place in the event. He was the two-time defending gold medallist. The gold medal went to Swiss snowboarder Iouri Podladtchikov. The Russian-born athlete posted a score of 94.75 out of a possible 100 to leapfrog into first place on his second of two runs. Podladtchikov, who goes by the moniker "I-Pod" on the snowboarding circuit, landed the trick he invented to seal the win — a 1440-degree whirling jump he nicknamed the "Yolo" jump. White is two-time defending champion in the event and the most decorated snowboarder of all time. He struggled in his first run, landing on the edge of the halfpipe lip coming out of a double McTwist. He finished the run but scored just 35.00 points. The American fared much better with a score of 90.25 on his second attempt, but it wasnt enough to get on to the podium. "I am disappointed," White said after the finals were over. "I was looking forr four — I was hoping to do slopestyle, too, but it didnt pan out. Mike Adams Jersey. Tonight was just not my time." It was 15-year-old Japanese phenom Ayumu Hirano who was seen as the best bet to dethrone him, as the diminutive Japanese phenom has been nipping Whites heels all season. Hiranos run did not disappoint, posting a score of 93.50. But Podladtchikov, who seemed to get better as the day went on, posted an eye-popping jump to close out his second run in the finals and jump into the lead. Japanese snowboarder Taku Hiraoka took the bronze. Podladtchikovs win is vindication for him after finishing in fourth place, just outside the medals, four years ago in Vancouver. The event saw many competitors wipe out over the course of the day, as there have been many complaints that the Sochi course is too vertical. The vertical edge of the pipe is seven metres tall in Sochi, more than twice the height it has been in previous Olympic competitions. Many competitors have been hitting the deck on top of the course instead of landing their jumps cleanly. cheap jerseys ' ' '