| Traveling around Whistler Mountain looking for Bode Miller |
WHISTLER, British Columbia — The cold, harsh truth about Bode Miller’s disappearing act in the giant slalom Tuesday?
Nobody was surprised.
After all, Miller’s hard-charging, go-for-broke style isn’t mistake-proof. When you live on the edge, you’re going to get burned sooner or later.
Miller may have turned these Games into his own personal showcase, but the American Alpine skier wasn’t a factor in his bid for an Olympic-record fourth Alpine medal. Miller didn’t finish the giant slalom after missing a gate near the end of his first run.
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“I’m taking more risks than everyone else,” Miller said. “That’s partly why I’m able to get medals. It looks easy when you make it. When you crash like today, it’s like, ‘Oh, huh?’”
Miller bounced back from his forgettable flop in Turin by winning three medals in his first three events this time.
He won gold in the super-combined, silver in the super-G and bronze in the downhill with the same aggressive, hard-charging style that turned him into a laughingstock four years ago.
Although Miller didn’t qualify for a spot in the giant slalom, U.S. coaches selected the 32-year-old to compete anyway. Miller was unable to get to the second run in his only two giant slalom races of this World Cup season. Not surprisingly, he couldn’t conquer the most technically challenging event for downhill skiers.
Hours after Miller’s unceremonious exit, Carlo Janka of Switzerland won gold ahead of Norwegians Kjetil Jansrud and Aksel Lund Svindal.
American Ted Ligety, the top-ranked giant slalom skier on the World Cup circuit, was never a factor en route to a ninth-place finish, ensuring this event would be the first time an American did not medal in an Alpine skiing event.
Miller and Svindal will have a chance for a record-fourth Alpine medal in the slalom Saturday.
“I’ll let everyone else do the counting,” Svindal said. “I’ll think about it Saturday night.”
Although Miller thought he “did a good job” Tuesday, there were early signs that it might not be his day. The American barely missed crashing on the top portion of his run before finding trouble later.
Miller, who has five career Olympic medals, couldn’t get back on course after a difficult turn in the bottom half of the race.
“Bode skied great up top and then went down on his hip, made a recovery like only Bode can but came in late to the next panel and hooked a gate with his hand,” U.S. head coach Sasha Rearick said.
“He then made another spectacular recovery and went straight back into hammering the line. He was pushing to make up time. He was happy with his run and would have liked to be in there, but he was skiing with passion.”
Miller admitted that he hooked his glove on the gate, which ultimately sealed his fate. The overcast conditions also wreaked havoc, he said.
“This light — I knew I had an issue this morning,” Miller said. “I’m not one of the better skiers in flat light. I tend to move a lot more. Some of those guys are so squared up and solid, the bad light doesn’t affect them that bad. ... I hit any of those little bumps while I’m moving — if I can’t see them — I blow out.“
Manish Mehta may be reached at [email protected]