Seeking 'best runs of my life,' Miller back on U.S. ski team
Friday, September 25, 2009
Miller, who competed on the World Cup tour the past 1 1/2 seasons as an independent, apart from the U.S. team, walked away from ski racing in February and spent the spring wondering if, at 31, his career was over.
As fall neared, however, he approached U.S. men's head coach Sasha Rearick and, after discussions with U.S. ski team and U.S. Olympic Committee officials, Miller on Thursday was named to the U.S. squad.
"I can relate to Brett Favre," Miller said at a news conference at L.A.'s Staples Center. "You dedicate your whole life to something and when you walk away, there's a big hole left, especially when it's my main form of expression."
Miller, considered a once-in-a-generation talent but a handful to manage because of his iconoclastic, rebellious ways, won two Olympic silver medals in 2002 and a World Cup overall title in 2005 as the star of the U.S. ski team.
But after his disastrous Olympic season of 2005-06 — he was roundly trashed in the news media for a variety of controversial comments and went 0-for-5 in Olympic races in Torino — and a lackluster season in 2006-07, he quit the U.S. team.
He formed his own team, hired his own coaches and impressively stormed to the 2008 World Cup overall title as an independent.
His performance declined last winter, however, and he quit the tour after poor results at the World Championships.
He has not trained at all this summer and, despite being in decent walking-around shape, he's not ready to race yet and will skip the World Cup opener in Soelden, Austria, on Oct. 25. He presumably will be ready to compete at World Cup races in Beaver Creek, Colo., Dec. 2-6.
"I'm not in bad shape, but it's a far cry from being in race shape," Miller said. "You just can't stop training. There are no shortcuts."
Like all U.S. athletes, Miller will need to qualify for a slot on the U.S. Olympic team for the Vancouver Olympics in February based on his performance in World Cup races. The U.S. Olympic team will be announced Jan. 26.
U.S. ski team and USOC officials can remember well the embarrassing stories Miller fueled four years ago, including an interview when he talked about skiing "wasted" and accounts of his late-night drinking on the tour, including during the Olympics in the Alpine village of Sestriere, Italy.
But Miller has convinced Rearick that he intends to abide by all rules and standards of conduct.
"I'm going to hold Bode accountable," Rearick said. "We have talked a lot about heart, about having tremendous pride and an unquenchable work ethic. If we stay focused on those things, we're going to excel."
Miller also made a convincing pitch about his intention to be a responsible teammate in a recent telephone conversation with USOC chairman Larry Probst.
"I was pleased that Bode reached out to me earlier this week to express his commitment to upholding the Olympic ideals of sportsmanship, integrity and hard work in his quest to join the 2010 U.S. Olympic team," Probst said.
"I appreciate Bode's wishes to look forward and not backward, and to focus on what it means to represent the United States as an ambassador for sport and the Olympic movement."
Miller, who has won a U.S.-record 31 World Cup races (seventh in men's Alpine history), said he thinks the U.S. team's methods and goals are more to his liking than when he walked away from the team after the 2007 season.
"I think I'll be part of a program that leaves no stone unturned," Miller said. "This is an opportunity to have a season where I can have the best runs of my life, where I can really kill it."
Asked if he has any apologies to offer or regrets about the way the last Olympic season went, Miller said he is looking forward and will let his actions speak for him.
"Actions speak louder than apologies," he said. "Actions carry more weight."
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