TURIN, Italy – As skiing champion Bode Miller likes to point out – usually after he loses – his is among the most unpredictable of sports. The difference between a winning run and a middle-of-the pack finish is measured in 10ths of seconds. The slightest weather conditions can change everything. One slip of an edge can end a race.

Indeed, the favorite is almost never the winner, but he usually takes home a medal of some kind in one of the five different competitions. Not so with Miller in these Winter Games. His sixth-place finish in yesterday’s giant slalom almost guarantees that he will return from Turin empty-handed.

Miller began the Games by placing fifth in the downhill, then straddled a gate and was disqualified from the combined, skied off course in the super-G, and now this. The only race left is the slalom, which has never been his strong suit. By his own admission, Miller has failed to finish the majority of the slalom races he has entered. His all-or-nothing approach and unconventional style mean he’ll be anything but consistent.

“One of the good things about my career is I have such extensive knowledge, so I always go as hard as I can,” Miller told the Associated Press after yesterday’s race. “Some guys can go 70%-80% and get results, but I wouldn’t do that. If things went well, I could be sitting on four medals, maybe all of them gold.”

Yesterday was one of those rare days when the things, in fact, went well for the favorite: Benjamin Raich of Austria – who plays the staid, married guy to Miller’s single, unruly persona – earned the gold, followed by France’s Joel Chenal and Raich’s larger-than-life compatriot, Hermann Maier, took bronze. Despite a valiant comeback effort in the second leg from a 12th-place deficit, Miller could only close the gap to 1.06 seconds.

Two years ago on this same slope in Sestriere, Miller was awarded the World Cup championship after the giant slalom was cancelled due to fog, fortunately erasing his disastrous first run. The standings were closed out prematurely, giving Miller an edge over Finland’s Ondrej Palander and an historic victory as the first American man to win the World Cup since Phil Mahre in the 80s.

If only he were so lucky this time. A fresh snowfall pushed the second leg of the giant slalom back by an hour, but then the precipitation gave way to a brilliant sun.

The change in the weather seemed to give Miller new life. He was excellent on his second run, beating out Palander’s then-leading mark by a comfortable 0.76 seconds before waiting for the 11 men in front of him to make their way down. Austria’s Rainer Schoenfelder came up 0.27 seconds short. Canda’s Jean-Phillipe Roy wiped out. Countryman Thomas Grandi and Italy’s Massimilliano Blardone fell far short. Austria’s Stephan Goergl lost his balance after soaring off of a lip, came down on his right ski, and missed the next gate. Miller would only have to survive two of the next five threats, and he would find himself on the podium.

Sweden’s Aksel Lun Svinadahl finished with the same time as Miller. Then came Raich, who tore up the course and set an unbeatable mark. It became a race for second place and Raich had his long awaited Olympic gold.

“To win an Olympic gold medal was a childhood dream,” Raich said afterward. “But you need a little bit of luck, you need all the parameters to be there on the day, to ski two good legs, to have the right equipment.”

Maier then turned in a performance nearly as good, falling just 0.16 short and knocking Miller off the podium.

Next up was Francois Bourque, who led the pack entering the second leg. The 21-year-old from New Richmond, Quebec, who grew up idolizing Maier, lost the final spot on the podium to his childhood hero by 0.92 seconds.

Maier had won the silver medal in the Super-G on Friday, and his countrywoman Michaela Dorfmeister earned her second gold of these Olympics yesterday – this time in the Super-G. As the men clinked their gold and bronze into Austria’s cache, it was clear that at least this half of the much-touted Austrian-American war showed up for battle.

If not for Ted Ligety’s surprise gold in the combined competition and Toby Dawson’s bronze in moguls last week, the entire U.S. ski team would be going home with nothing. Aside from Miller, the biggest disappointment has been Daron Rahlves, the most decorated skier on the team, who has nevertheless come up short in every event. Rahlves did not finish yesterday’s race, his last of the Olympics.

“It’s hard to swallow, knowing this is the last time I’ll be racing in an event like this,” the 32-year-old Rahlves said. “Three times in the Olympics and I haven’t medaled before.”

Ligety, who also did not finish yesterday, is the unlikely 21-year-old star on whom the team now pins its hopes. The last event, the men’s slalom, will be run on Saturday afternoon.

jmoretti@nysun.com