Bode Miller reminisces about Vancouver 2010 success and redemption

Bode Miller was revered for his hard-charging, often wild, leave everything on the mountain style over the course of sixteen World Cup seasons and four Olympic Games.

The retired U.S. ski racer frequently insisted executing and delivering inspiring skiing held far greater importance to him than the actual race result. This mindset often resulted in DNF (Did Not Finish) results, as Miller almost always charged full-throttle down the mountain.

However, when the iconoclast skier was at his peak, carving race lines deemed impossible, he was unbeatable. Following a dominant display of racing en route to his first overall World Cup title in 2004-05, Miller arrived at the Torino 2006 Olympics as a medal favorite across multiple events.

However, the favorite doesn’t always come out on top. The popular, yet often misunderstood athlete failed to medal in all five events he entered. He casually shrugged off his performance, which was viewed as highly disappointing to the U.S. media and the millions of viewers watching back home. NBC Olympic television host Bob Costas chastised the enigmatic American ski racer in a scathing commentary to viewers, as to what he perceived as lack of commitment and dedication by Miller over his fortnight in Italy.

Miller saw it differently.

“I won the combined downhill (first run of alpine combined), and if you look at the overall performance of my career, I did OK there – I was fifth and sixth in the two races I finished. I had two huge mistakes and had the chance to win two events, but was unlucky,” Miller said, about his racing in Torino.

After a stint away from the sport with the intention to retire, Miller returned and then silenced his critics, winning three Olympic medals in Vancouver 2010: bronze in downhill, silver in super-G and his first career gold in the combined.

“It was important for me to get that Olympic gold for my technician, my coaches and really for fans everywhere,” Miller said.

“It was very validating – that was a testament to a shift in approach, which was important. It was good for me, good for the sport and good from a legacy standpoint.

“Whereas, in 2006, I was racing the way that I always raced previously, kind of wide-open, selfish, because I wanted to give the performances to give the fans what they wanted to see.”

Miller addressed the motivation behind his return to racing - after his partial retirement in 2009 - swayed by a few heartfelt conversations, a re-evaluation and an epiphany.

“It was a maturing process for me and I un-retired in October of that Olympic year, with the sole intent of coming in and demonstrating a different approach at the Olympics then I did in 2006.”

Miller reminisced about the Vancouver 2010 achievements and Olympic highs and lows considering that one of his longtime, trusted coaches, Forest Carey, was surprisingly let go by the U.S. Ski Team last month. Carey held numerous coaching positions over 14 seasons and was cherished for an unwavering dedication to his athletes. Miller praised Carey, who shared a similar philosophy about ski racing, for much of his success.

In addition to his three Olympic medals in Vancouver, Miller previously won two silvers at Salt Lake City 2002 as a 24-year-old rising star in the sport. He capped off his Olympic career at Sochi 2014, at age 36, sharing super-G bronze with U.S. teammate Andrew Weibrecht. He nearly sped to a downhill victory as one of the favorites on the Rosa Khutor course, had it not been for a few costly mistakes late in his run.

“It was tough in Sochi because the conditions changed so much from the first (downhill) training on, but I was winning those training runs by incredible margins,” Miller recalled, having finished eighth in his final Olympic downhill.

Miller won 33 World Cup races, two overall World Cup titles, four world championship gold medals and six Olympic medals in total, over his illustrious career.

“If you think back, I quit in 2009 and then had four Olympic medals after that to finish out the way that I did,” Miller said.

Miller’s 33 victories stands as the most ever by a U.S. male ski racer and he is only one of two U.S. men to win the prestigious overall title. Phil Mahre captured three straight from 1981-83.

These days the 44-year old retired ski racer resides in Montana with his family. Business ventures include the recent launch of his own ski brand, Peak Skis, and he plans to open the Bode Miller Ski Academy, a project geared towards developing and mentoring junior ski racers.

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