A COMBINED EFFORT MILLER ROARS THROUGH LAST RUN FOR SILVER MEDAL.Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer SNOWBASIN, Utah - When American Bode Miller Samuel Bode Miller (born October 12 1977), best known as Bode Miller (pronounced Bo-dee, in IPA [boʊˈdiː]), is an American alpine skier. slid and nearly crashed on a downhill course early Wednesday, he had the ski world right where he wanted it. Not only did he survive a near disaster, Miller used it to set up one of the most electrifying e·lec·tri·fy tr.v. e·lec·tri·fied, e·lec·tri·fy·ing, e·lec·tri·fies 1. To produce electric charge on or in (a conductor). 2. a. comeback runs in Olympic slalom history that earned him a silver medal in the Alpine combined and comparisons to all-time greats Alberto Tomba (( alberto la bomba was a latin lover in his day and was a full on play boy.)) Alberto Tomba (born December 19 1966), popularly called Tomba la Bomba ("Tomba the Bomb"), is a retired Italian alpine skier. and Jean-Cleaude Killy. Although Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway took the gold and won a record sixth Olympic medal with a time of 3 minutes, 17.56 seconds, he was lost in the spray of Miller's final run that blew away the field by an astonishing a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. 1:18 seconds. ``He's revolutionized the way of skiing,'' Aamodt said. ``Nobody has ever skied that fast, like he's doing in slalom this year. It's amazing. ``When he's putting it together, he is in a class of his own right now. He's like Alberto Tomba was. I think Bode, if he can keep his focus going, he can catch up to him. I've never seen anybody ski so fast.'' It was Miller's recklessness in the downhill that left him 15th and trailing Aamodt by a whopping 2.44 second heading into the final slalom run. It also represented the maverick spirit that often frustrates coaches but helps steer his greatness. Miller moved up to fifth after the first slalom run, then passed three skiers on the second. Then he outraced the entire field, making up an astonishing two seconds on his combined time and finishing just .28 seconds behind Aamodt. ``All I care about is competing well, and sometimes, for me, competing well means crashing and coming away with nothing,'' Miller said. ``Luckily today, I was able to get the silver medal, but that is more for my country, family and the fans. For me, skiing that second slalom run the way I did was better than any medal.'' Miller's medal was just the second by a U.S. male Alpine skier in 18 years and the first since Tommy Moe Tommy Moe (born February 17, 1970 in Missoula, Montana) is an American skier, now retired and living in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he serves as an ambassador of skiing for the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. won twice in 1994. Miller also became the first American First American may refer to:
And he gets to do it all again next week when he is the favorite in slalom and giant-slalom events. No other Alpine skier has won as many Olympic medals as Aamodt, who had been tied with Tomba, Vreni Schneider Verena ("Vreni") Schneider (born November 26 1964 in Elm) is a former ski racer from Switzerland. She is the most successful alpine ski racer of her country, the second most successful female ski racer ever (after Annemarie Moser-Pröll) and was elected "Swiss Sportswoman of the and Katja Seizinger Katja Seizinger (born May 10, 1972 in Datteln, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German former alpine skier, the most successful alpine skier of her country. She won three Olympic gold and two bronze medals. at five. Aamodt also is the three-time defending world champion in the combined event. Miller, 24, hardly seemed ready to join that company earlier this year when he began his fourth season on the U.S. ski team. He was well known in ski circles for his background, growing up in a log cabin log cabin or log house, style of home typical of the American pioneer on the Western frontier of the United States in the great westward expansion after 1765. It was constructed with few tools, usually an axe or an adz and an auger. in Franconia, N.H., that did not have electricity or indoor plumbing. But he also was coming off knee surgery and started slowly. Miller finally broke through in late November when he finished second in a World Cup slalom race in Aspen, Colo. His momentum continued, winning three consecutive slalom races. Coaches and teammates remained confounded by his devilish dev·il·ish adj. 1. Of, resembling, or characteristic of a devil, as: a. Malicious; evil. b. Mischievous, teasing, or annoying. 2. Excessive; extreme: devilish heat. style but awed by the results. ``He's willing to risk it all every time, put it on the line and take what the result is,'' said Bill Marolt, president of the U.S. ski federation. ``They used to say that about Jean-Claude Killy, that he was wild, that he flew off course. But when those guys figure out how to get to the finish line, they're awesome.'' It is high praise to be compared to Tomba, considered the greatest slalom skier ever, and Killy, the three-time gold medalist at the 1968 Winter Games in Grenoble, France. And it certainly was a long way to the finish line when Miller began to struggle early in Wednesday's downhill run. He slid down the slope on his left side but somehow regained his balance and made it to the end. CAPTION(S): photo, 3 boxes Photo: (color) Bode Miller of New Hampshire New Hampshire, one of the New England states of the NE United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts (S), Vermont, with the Connecticut R. forming the boundary (W), the Canadian province of Quebec (NW), and Maine and a short strip of the Atlantic Ocean (E). races to a silver medal Wednesday during his second slalom run of the men's combined at Snowbasin, Utah. Alessandro Trovati/Associated Press Box: (1) TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS (see text) (2) SALT LAKE CITY WEATHER (see text) (3) MEDAL COUNT |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion