updated 1:33 p.m. ET Feb. 20, 2006

SESTRIERE, Italy - Bode Miller, take note. Kjetil Andre Aamodt proves it’s possible to segue from boy wonder to cold-blooded professional to savvy veteran, winning all the while.

An Olympic gold medalist at 20, two more times at 30, and, thanks to Saturday’s victory in a restarted super-G, a winner once more at a record 34, Norway’s “Baby Shark” now owns more Winter Games medals — eight — than any Alpine skier in history.

The much-hyped Miller, meanwhile, slammed into a gate and failed to finish, dropping to 0-for-3 at the Turin Olympics, then skied through the woods and avoided reporters.

Asked the secret to his success, Aamodt spoke words that Miller, 28, and all manner of other younger skiers might want to jot down.

“Spend a lot of time on the hill, spend time training, and then, if you work hard over a long period of time, with a lot of focus, good things will happen to you in the end,” Aamodt said. “And ... use your head while you’re having fun.”

Competing on a painful left knee that kept him out of one medal race and forced him to train on children’s slopes, Aamodt wasn’t fazed by the day’s odd weather and scheduling. The race began at 11 a.m. under swirling snow and a veil of fog, then was halted after only 17 skiers.

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Following a delay of nearly 3½ hours, it began anew with everyone racing under the Alpine sun — as if the calendar suddenly flipped forward a few months. Not everyone was thrilled with the rescheduling: Pierre-Emmanuel Dalcin of France had the fastest time before the restart, but on his second run he missed a gate, then made an obscene gesture at the scoreboard before slamming a ski pole against a blue “Torino 2006” archway.

Aamodt finished in 1 minute, 30.65 seconds, 0.13 seconds ahead of Hermann Maier of Austria, the World Cup super-G leader whom Aamodt called “one of the greatest ever.” Ambrosi Hoffmann of Austria took the bronze, 0.33 behind. For Maier, it was the first Olympic medal since he shattered both legs when a car hit his motorcycle in 2001.

“To be here was my biggest goal,” Maier said. “Now, to win a medal is perfect for me.”

Aamodt became the first man to win consecutive super-G Olympic titles, and the hits just keep on comin’:

• Already the second-youngest man to win an Alpine Olympic gold, in the 1992 super-G, he’s now the oldest;
• He’s the only man to win the same Alpine event at three Olympics;
• Add his title in the combined event at Salt Lake City four years ago, and he’s the only man with four Alpine golds.

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A half-hour later, several mountains away at San Sicario, Janica Kostelic of Croatia became the first woman to win four Alpine golds, overcoming illness to defend her title in the combined race. More surprising: Kostelic’s chief rival, Anja Paerson of Sweden, settled for her second bronze of these Olympics, behind silver medalist Marlies Schild of Austria.

“Records are to be beaten,” said a blase Kostelic, whose brother took silver in the men’s combined, “so someone else will win five.”

It won’t be Miller. At least not here.

He was picked by some as a threat to collect plenty of hardware at these games, thanks to his two silvers at Salt Lake City and his overall World Cup title last season.

His record so far, though: fifth in the downhill, disqualified in the combined for straddling a gate, “Did Not Finish” Saturday. He has drawn more attention for his bar-hopping than his skiing.

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Asked about Miller’s nightlife, U.S. men’s coach Phil McNichol said: “It’s not something I’m going to get into. Bode’s a big boy.”

Miller was slick at the start Saturday, then lost control on a tough turn about a minute into the race and plowed straight into a gate. Spun around in the air, only his right ski landed, and the left tapped back and forth behind him in something that looked like a figure skating maneuver. He stayed upright, but he was done.

“He obviously hasn’t put a race together,” McNichol said.

Nor has the other U.S. star, Daron Rahlves, who was 10th in the downhill, ninth in the super-G and sounded ready for the retirement he has said is coming after the season.

Saturday’s performance “just makes it easier to leave,” Rahlves said. “Days like this, you just don’t want to have any more.”

Aamodt sounded a similar note after the 2002 Olympics, not because of how little he had accomplished, but because of how much. He set a men’s Alpine record by winning his seventh medal, a collection his father borrowed and soon lost.

“Maybe he sold them,” Aamodt said, laughing. “One week later, he had a new Porsche Cayenne.”

Aamodt also said he and the 33-year-old Maier might still be around at the 2014 Olympics.

That was a joke, too, right?

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