WHISTLER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — Even Bode Miller’s father had a hard time understanding his son’s attitude toward the Winter Olympics four years ago. When the world heard insolence and sarcasm coming from the contrarian raised in the woods of New Hampshire, Woody Miller saw his son’s pain and felt powerless to help.
As he absorbed what some would call his son’s greatest achievement — a gold medal in super-combined Sunday at the Olympics — Woody Miller reflected on what he saw in his son leading up to the Turin Games.
“I think I saw in him a mystery as to what was really the problem, but I can tell you it was a huge problem then,” Woody Miller said. “In the summer leading up to the Olympics, he was dreading it. There were so many things that were out of his control that he didn’t like, that he didn’t feel like he could do anything about.”
It saddened Woody Miller, not only because he believed in his son. He believed in the Olympics too.
“To me, growing up, the Olympics was always something you imagined people aspiring to, and feeling really positive about,” Woody Miller said. “It had reached the point with him where it was nothing like that at all. It was very sad, and I felt badly that I couldn’t do anything about it.”
And now? Miller is the first American skier to win three medals at one Olympics. He has his first Olympic gold medal. Having separated himself from the U.S. Ski Team for two seasons before returning last fall, he has brought an energy that helped spark the team to a record eight alpine medals in six events here.
And Woody Miller is happy.
“I’m really glad he’s worked all those things out,” Woody Miller said, “and reached a point where he’s feeling very positive.”
So what was the problem at the Turin Games? Miller mostly has been vague, but finally explained himself Sunday. He joked good-naturedly that the finish corral at the Olympic Games might not be the best place for “IOC bashing,” then laid out his thinking.
“The Olympics is definitely in my mind a two-sided coin,” Miller said. “It has all the best things of sport — amazing energy, enthusiasm, passion, inspiration — it’s what changes lives. In that sense it’s the pinnacle of what sports and camaraderie is.
“On the flip side is the opposite — the corruption, the abuse, the money. I’m not pointing fingers, but that’s what was bothering me. Being thrust in the middle of that, and being the poster boy for that — when it’s the thing I despise the most in the world — was really draining on my inspiration, my level of passion. I had the plug pulled out on my most important fuel source. It had been happening for a year, and it was just too much.”
But Miller made his peace with the Olympics. Once he decided he wanted to be here, he drew on that precious fuel to achieve great things.
“I see guys racing at a level I’ve never seen before,” Miller said. “That’s special, that’s what matters to me. The gold medal is great, ideally that’s what everyone is shooting for, but the way I skied these races is what matters.
“The three medals are kind of a distraction. It makes everyone think I’m proud of the races because I got the medals. Really I was as proud of the races when I came across the finish line, not knowing whether I’d won or not, as I am when I find out I’ve got medals.”
Miller took the bronze medal in Monday’s downhill and silver in Friday’s super-G. Sunday he was feeling fatigued, in part because he only decided in September to return for another season of ski racing, and because of an ankle injury suffered during the season that further limited his conditioning.
Miller was seventh in Sunday morning’s combined downhill, .76 of a second behind pace-setter Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway. He posted the third-best time in the afternoon’s combined slalom to win with a margin of .33 over silver medalist Ivica Kostelic of Croatia and .40 over bronze medalist Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland.
Miller’s lack of condition was apparent the last third of the slalom course.
“The last 20 gates were a joke,” Miller said, laughing at the thought. “I felt pretty floppy. When you start to get really tired, your core starts to relax, you’re breathing so heavy, you can’t breathe and stay tight all the time. I was like, ‘God, get me to the finish.’ I knew I had a great run going, but I don’t know how I got those last 15 gates through the finish. It was literally just willpower, because my legs were completely shot.”
For much of his career, Miller has been petulant and combative, but here he has been cheerful and polite. His enthusiasm has been infectious.
Now he has five Olympic medals (counting two silver in 2002), a record for American skiers. He’s enjoying himself so much at age 32, he’s talking about coming back for another season.
He’s been doing something here nobody got to see four years ago.
“Using the Olympics for what it’s supposed to be,” Miller said, “as an inspirational tool.”
And Woody Miller couldn’t be more proud.
“I’d say this is the pinnacle,” Woody Miller said. “It’s an accomplishment for the Olympics, but it’s also for him a very good moment in terms of his focus and the way he feels. I think he’s really happy with the way things are right now.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
The mountain king
Most Olympic medals for an American skier:
5 — Bode Miller (at right): gold in super-combined (2010); silver in combined and giant slalom (2002), super-G (2010); bronze in downhill (2010).
3 — Julia Mancuso: gold in giant slalom (2006), silver in downhill and super-combined (2010).
2 — Nine racers: Andrea Mead Lawrence, Gretchen Fraser, Penny Pitou, Jean Saubert, Phil Mahre, Tommy Moe, Diann Roffe, Picabo Street, Lindsey Vonn.
