VAL D’ISERE, France (AP) – Bode Miller is winless this season and relishing the idea that expectations are low heading into the world championships.

Miller’s best results include three runner-up finishes since being hampered by a sore ankle from a crash in December in Beaver Creek, Colo. With a slalom win at worlds, Miller could become the first male skier to earn gold in all five individual events.

“It’s more fun if you haven’t been executing all year but you know you’re right there,” Miller told The Associated Press on Tuesday, a day ahead of the super-G. “Maybe I execute in all five of these races and do great.”

Miller, the defending overall World Cup champion, hasn’t won a major championship medal since sweeping the downhill and super-G at the 2005 worlds in Bormio, Italy. At the 2007 worlds in Are, Sweden, he finished sixth in super-combi.

“In these circumstances, I would say it’s more fun than the other way around,” Miller said, “where you’ve been executing well all year and you come into a championships and it’s one race and you’re supposed to execute again on that day and if you don’t, everyone’s like, ‘You suck.”‘

Miller ranks eighth in the overall World Cup standings. A strong performance at worlds could salvage his season.

“I don’t really get upset with results,” Miller said. “I’ve been skiing well. I’ve said it for 15 years – results are not always a good indicator of how your program is working or how you’re skiing, or how your skis are working.

“If results are good, generally those things are good, but that’s not always the case. In this case, I’m not that torn up about it. We’ve been doing a lot of stuff right and I’ve been skiing well and just results haven’t come.”

The slalom is the final event at worlds on Feb. 15. Miller could match Sweden’s Anja Paerson, who already has won gold in all five individual disciplines on the women’s side.

Jean-Claude Killy swept gold in slalom, giant slalom, downhill and combined at the 1968 Grenoble Olympics, which doubled as the World Championships, although super-G did not exist. Pirmin Zurbriggen won world titles in every discipline but slalom.

In 2003, Miller won the giant slalom and combined world titles in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

, before adding the speed titles in Bormio.

While Miller hasn’t won a slalom in more than four years, he finished second in the season opener in Levi, Finland. Still, he’s not putting emphasis on the record.

“Slalom is the goal on slalom day,” Miller said. “It’s not the goal on super-G day. Some people would say you could skip other events, but of course for me that doesn’t really make a lot of sense.

“I’ve been skiing well all season in all the events. (Giant slalom) is the only one we’ve been struggling in, and at times we’ve even skied GS well.”

Miller said his ankle is feeling better.

“It still hurts, but the instability is virtually gone, which was the main problem,” he said.

Hermann Maier leads this season’s World Cup super-G standings after winning the opening race in Lake Louise, Alberta. But the Austrian great has been ill and asked to be excused from the public bib draw.

Other skiers who could challenge include Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, who won the season’s second super-G, and Didier Defago of Switzerland, who boasts two recent downhill wins.

Patrick Staudacher of Italy is the defending champion. The steep and twisty Bellevarde course may favor technical skiers such as Olympic combined champion Ted Ligety of Park City, Utah.

“I think the course suits me well and I’m starting No. 4, which could be an advantage,” said Ligety, noting the difficult light for the women’s super-G Tuesday, won by teammate Lindsey Vonn.