Detailed Biography

Samuel Bode Miller is a champion alpine ski racer.

In 2008, Bode won his second overall World Cup title in four years, after also winning the title in 2005. This led the United States to sweep the men's and women's overall World Cup titles for the first time in 25 years, as Lindsey Vonn won the women's title.

In 2005, Bode became the first American in 22 years to win the overall title, since Phil Mahre and Tamara McKinney in 1983. Earlier during his championship season, with a victory on November 28, 2004, he became only the fifth man to win World Cup races in all five disciplines: slalom, giant slalom, Super-G, downhill, and combined. With 31 World Cup victories, he is the most successful American alpine skier of all time.

He is also a four-time World Champion in four different disciplines and has a pair of silver medals from the 2002 Winter Olympics. On May 12, 2007, Miller announced that he would be leaving the U.S. Ski Team and race independently for his newly formed Team America. In October 2009 Miller announced he would rejoin the US Ski Team.

Early years

Born in Easton, New Hampshire, to Jo Kenney and Woody Miller, he grew up in Franconia, a small community in the heart of New Hampshire's ski region. His family, including older sister Kyla, younger sister Wren and younger brother Chelone , lived on 450 acres of land in a forest, where his parents celebrated the solstices, in a log cabin without electricity or indoor plumbing. He was homeschooled until after third grade, but after his parents divorced, he began attending public school. He applied for and got a scholarship to the Carrabassett Valley Academy, a ski racing academy in Maine. His mother's parents owned and started the Tamarack Tennis Camp, and he has played tennis and soccer since childhood.

Miller first gained widespread recognition when he won two silver medals at the 2002 Winter Olympics in the giant slalom and combined events, though he had been known to skiing fans since he burst onto the World Cup scene as an 18-year-old in 1996. Miller is known for his reckless style, often risking crashes to increase his chances of winning a given race; in his book, Bode: Go Fast, Be Good, Have Fun, Miller stated that his goal as a skier was not to win medals, but rather to ski "as fast as the natural universe will allow." In 2006, Miller also became famous for his reclusive personality and his attention-getting statements. Miller has fared well at the World Championships, winning a total of four gold medals and one silver medal, although he has failed to medal there since his collapse at the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Skiing career

2002 Season

Miller won his first World Cup ski race on December 29, 2001, taking the giant slalom at Val d'Isère, and then followed it up the next day with another win in the slalom at Madonna di Campiglio. He would go on to win two more slalom races in January 2002, along with a pair of silver medals at the 2002 Winter Olympics in February, thus and established himself as the top racer on the U.S. Ski Team. This was his final season on Fischer skis, he switched to Rossignol following the season's completion.

2003 Season

Miller challenged for the World Cup overall title but fell just short, finishing second to Stephan Eberharter of Austria. At the 2003 World Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Miller won three medals: gold in giant slalom and combined, and silver in Super-G. He also won two other giant slaloms during the season.

2004 Season

In this season Miller won World Cup titles in two disciplines: giant slalom and combined, but placed 4th in the competition for the overall title. He won six World Cup races: three giant slaloms, two combineds and one slalom. After the season, Miller switched to Atomic skis.

2005 Season

Miller won his first overall World Cup title, defeating Austrians Benjamin Raich and Hermann Maier.

Miller made history early in the season by winning at least one race in each of the four standard World Cup disciplines: Slalom, Giant Slalom, Super-G, and Downhill; by winning a slalom in Sestriere, Italy, on December 13, 2004, he joined Marc Girardelli of Luxembourg, who had been the first man to accomplish this feat in 1989. Miller accomplished the feat in less time than any previous skier, male or female; the victory was his sixth of the season after only ten races. At the 2005 World Championships in Bormio, Italy, he won two gold medals, in Super-G and Downhill.

2006 Season

Despite the hype surrounding Miller prior to the 2006 Winter Olympics, every one of Miller's five medal bids in the Torino Games fell short: he finished a disappointing 5th in the Downhill, was disqualified – while in first place at the time – during the second leg of the Combined event, received a DNF in the Super G, tied for 6th in the giant slalom, and claimed another DNF after missing a gate in the Slalom. Nevertheless, Miller won two races during the season and placed third for the season's overall World Cup title. At the 2006 U.S. National Championships following the World Cup season, Miller won the downhill and giant slalom titles. He switched to Head skis following the season's completion. Miller had prolotherapy treatments to the ligaments in his knee or knees in February 2006, along with other ski team members, Bryan Friedmon and Eric Schlopy.

2007 Season

Bode Miller had 4 first place finishes in the early going of the 2007 World Cup. For the season, Miller finished 4th overall and won the Super G title. On May 12, 2007, Miller announced that he was leaving the U.S. Ski Team. He followed the precedent set by slalom skier Kristina Koznick, who left the U.S. Ski Team following the 2000 season and raced the next six years for the U.S. as an independent.

2008 Season

Bode Miller clinched his second overall championship at the World Cup finals in Bormio, Italy. Miller missed a chance to also win the season's downhill title when bad weather prevented the season's last race from being run. Miller got his first win of the season at the Stelvio downhill in Bormio in December. On January 13, Miller won for the second year in a row the legendary Wengen downhill, matching Phil Mahre as the most successful American skier with 27 World Cup victories. On January 20, he broke this record by winning the Hahnenkamm combined event at Kitzbühel. On January 27, he won the first super combined in his career in Chamonix and took the lead in the World Cup standings. On February 3, he won the super combined in Val d'Isère, France, and took the combined title. On March 1, Bode got his sixth win of the season at Kvitfjell, Norway, cementing his lead in the overall standings and closing to 5 points on Didier Cuche in downhill. At the end of this impressive season he was crowned overall champion.

2009 Season

Miller responded to his World Cup success in 2008 with the worst season of his professional career, leading some to speculate that he may be "burned out." Miller failed to win a race for the first time in eight years and had only two official podium finishes, both seconds in downhill, to show for his season. Miller suffered a torn ligament in his left ankle in a December fall at Beaver Creek, which may have been a factor in his performance. He took a four-week break from competition in February and March, the first World Cup races that he had failed to start in three years, and missed the end of the World Cup season, although he still had a chance to win the season's downhill title. He said that "the fire goes away after a while", and he hinted at retirement.

Publicity, press and promotions

Miller's fame was partly spawned by his 2002 Winter Olympics slalom performance where, as a relatively unknown athlete, he hiked back up the course to finish after missing a gate – a rare, mostly symbolic act of dedication in a sport where hundredths of second often separate gold from bronze.

2006 Olympics coverage

On the program 60 Minutes, in January 2006, Miller described the act of skiing "wasted" and compared it to lawlessly driving while intoxicated. Throughout the Olympics, Miller said, "I'm just trying to ski in a way that's exciting for me." In an interview shortly after his last race, he said that it had "been an awesome two weeks," and that he "got to party and socialize at an Olympic level." Bob Costas' primetime editorial, after an unapologetic Miller interview with Tom Brokaw, the conclusion was offered that Miller might finally get what he wanted: to be unceremoniously forgotten. Miller received negative coverage in the American and international media; editorials focused on his attitude of simply not caring about the Olympics or about his performance.

Many perceived his "whatever" attitude a violation of the "Olympic Spirit." Nike's 2006 advertising campaign urged consumers to "Join Bode." This prompted Washington Post sportswriter Sally Jenkins to ask, "Where? At the bar?" in response to his well-publicized nights on the town in Sestriere. Others have argued that the blame for Miller's crash-and-burn publicity is shared between himself, his PR people, and his manager. The theory that they collectively made Miller available for a veritable media blitz in the months leading up to the Olympics.

Miller was viewed as a loose cannon because he frequently responded to questions from the press with, as Layden put it, "sermons that are often delivered without regard to consequences" .

Endorsement and sponsors

Miller's autobiography, Bode: Go Fast, Be Good, Have Fun, co-written with his friend Jack McEnany, was published by Villard/Random House on October 18, 2005. Miller also became the first American alpine skier since Tommy Moe to endorse a video game when Bode Miller Alpine Racing was released for mobile phones on January 30, 2006, followed by Bode Miller Alpine Skiing for Playstation 2 and Windows. In 2006 Miller was the subject of a biographical film, Flying Downhill, which looks at the people and the place he comes from, and where exactly each fits within his philosophy.

Miller has used a variety of skis during his World Cup career. He skied on Fischer through the 2002 season, switched to Rossignol for two seasons , then Atomic for the following two . In June 2006, he switched to Head, along with Hermann Maier of Austria and Didier Cuche of Switzerland.

In May 2007, Miller broke away from the U.S. Ski Team and formed his independent "Team America" for the 2008 season. This allowed him more control of his training, equipment, staff, and sponsors. With fewer distractions, increased autonomy and responsibility, Miller improved his focus and won his second overall title.

Other sports

In 2002, Miller won ABC Sports' annual Superstars competition, a televised event that pits athletes from different sports against one another in a series of athletic contests. In doing so, he became just the second skier to win Superstars, after Hermann Maier won the year before. The U.S. version of the show has largely been dominated by NFL football players.

On July 29, 2006, Miller signed a one-day contract to play baseball for the Nashua Pride . He went 0-2 with two strikeouts, however he did make an acrobatic catch in left field, which earned national attention by being featured by ESPN , among others. The team said it would donate at least $5,000 from ticket sales for the game to Miller's Turtle Ridge Foundation, which will give the money to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

On July 23, 2007, Miller again signed a one-day contract, to play the first three innings July 24, 2007, for the Nashua Pride, to raise money for charity.

Personal life

He has a daughter, Neesyn Dacey, who was born in 2008. The mother is Miller's former girlfriend.

He has dated professional log roller Lizzie Hoeschler.

Miller is generally unpopular with mainstream reporters who cover skiing. One referred to him as "a tedious bore given to statements that smack of hypocrisy." Another said that Miller's behavior had alienated him from "pretty much everyone but those who mindlessly celebrate rebels simply for their rebellion, however misplaced it might be."

World Cup victories

Season titles

Race victories

31 total wins