Bode completes transformation, wins Olympic bronze

WHISTLER, British Columbia – Bode Miller used to be Alpine skiing’s bad boy – the wild partier off the slopes, the thorn in the side of reporters, the head case on race day.

He still won’t talk much about his private life, and he’s surely not buddy-buddy with the media. But now he’s letting his skiing speak for itself, and the latest results say a lot.

Barely more than a year after he was battling a bum ankle and searching for motivation to continue a career that had seen better times, Miller showed Monday he’s truly reformed, surging to a bronze medal in the downhill at the Vancouver Games.

Miller, 32, of Franconia, N.H., skied with the aggression that carried him to two Olympic silvers in 2002 and the poise that he lacked in not touching the podium in 2006, his time of 1 minute, 54.4 seconds only 0.09 of a second behind gold medalist Didier Defago of Switzerland and 0.02 of a second behind Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal.

“I’m more than motivated,” Miller said. “I’m always ready to come in and win races. … It’s all serious for me, and I like to race hard, no matter what.”

Under normal circumstances, an Olympic medal would have been notable but likely not remarkable for Miller, the most decorated American Alpine skier, with four world titles, 32 World Cup victories and two World Cup overall titles. The fact Miller was essentially retired last February underscores the significance of a bronze nobody saw coming.

After a blistering start out of the gate, Miller built lots of speed in the top section, doing a good job of working the edges. He stayed consistent in the middle portion, and he might have won a gold or a silver had he not lost time near the bottom because of a shaky last jump and poor lighting created by shadows at Whistler Creekside.

“With big Games, they’re different – they’re more important, there’s more stuff to them, there’s more environmental stimulation,” said Miller, whose third Olympic Alpine medal sets an American record. “You get more excited. There’s more energy. I think that can be very positive if you feed off it.”

Not much was positive for Miller in 2006, when he made headlines for his late-night trips to the bars in Sestriere, Italy. After his final race, he told reporters he wasn’t disappointed not winning any medals because he “got to party and socialize at an Olympic level.”

Since then, Miller said he has learned “to race with some inspiration and to allow myself to be inspired and to try to inspire other guys and everyone else. … That’s a much nicer feeling for me than where I was before.”

For more on the Games go to gazette.com/olympics