Samuel Bode Miller is an American former World Cup alpine ski racer.
87 Facts About Bode Miller
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Bode Miller is an Olympic and World Championship gold medalist, a two-time overall World Cup champion in 2005 and 2008, and the most successful male American alpine ski racer of all time.
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Bode Miller is considered one of the greatest World Cup racers of all time with 33 race victories and being one of five men to win World Cup events in all five disciplines.
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Bode Miller is the only skier with five or more victories in each discipline.
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Bode Miller is one of 5 skiers who have won Olympic medals in 4 different disciplines, matching the feats of Kjetil Andre Aamodt and female racers Anja Parson, Janica Kostelic and Katja Seizinger.
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Bode Miller ended his career with six discipline World Cup titles and won four World Championships titles in four different disciplines and one silver medal in super-G.
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Bode Miller officially retired from ski racing in October 2017.
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In 2020, Bode Miller co-founded SKEO, a wearable ski tracking app company.
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In January of 2021, Bode Miller joined the Board of Directors of Opex Technologies, an IT Technology company focused on advising, implementing, and supporting technology transformation projects.
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Bode Miller's family, including older sister Kyla, and younger brother Chelone, lived on 450 acres of land in a forest, where his parents celebrated solstices, in a log cabin without electricity or indoor plumbing.
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Bode Miller was homeschooled until the third grade, but after his parents divorced, he began attending public school.
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Bode Miller applied for and got a scholarship to the Carrabassett Valley Academy, a ski racing academy in Maine.
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Bode Miller first gained widespread recognition after winning two silver medals at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in the giant slalom and combined events, though he had been known to skiing fans since he burst onto the international scene as an 18-year-old in 1996.
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Bode Miller finally achieved a podium in a giant slalom at Val d'Isere on December 17,2000, but then only competed in super-G at the 2001 World Ski Championships; he crashed during the downhill portion of the combined and tore knee ligaments, which ended his competition.
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Bode Miller won his first World Cup race on December 29,2001, taking the giant slalom at Val-d'Isere, and then followed it up the next day with another win in the slalom at Madonna di Campiglio.
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Bode Miller 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 establishing himself as the top racer on the US Ski Team.
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Bode Miller was 15th after the downhill portion losing 2.44 seconds to Kjetil Andre Aamodt.
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Bode Miller then put a remarkable second run of the slalom portion to finish second overall just 0.28 behind Aamodt.
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Later on Bode Miller won a second silver medal, this time in the giant slalom where he lost only to Stephan Eberharter of Austria.
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Bode Miller was on a verge of winning medals in all disciplines he had entered at the Olympics, while he was second after first run of the slalom race.
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At the starting gate before his final run Bode Miller had already a huge advantage of 1.79 seconds over then leading Sebastien Amiez.
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Bode Miller challenged for the 2003 World Cup overall title but fell just short, finishing second to Stephan Eberharter of Austria.
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At the 2003 World Championships in St Moritz, Switzerland, Bode Miller won three medals: gold in giant slalom and combined, and silver in super-G.
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Bode Miller won two other giant slaloms during the season.
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Bode Miller won six World Cup races: three giant slaloms, two combineds and one slalom.
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Bode Miller won his first overall World Cup title in 2005, defeating Austrians Benjamin Raich and Hermann Maier.
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Bode 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.
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Bode Miller accomplished the feat in less time than any previous ski racer, male or female; the victory was his sixth of the season after only ten races.
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Nevertheless, Bode Miller won two races during the season and placed third for the season's overall World Cup title.
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At the 2006 US National Championships following the World Cup season, Bode Miller won the downhill and giant slalom titles.
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Bode Miller switched to Head skis following the season's completion.
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Bode Miller had prolotherapy treatments, an alternative treatment that has shown no effect in clinical trials, to the ligaments in his knee or knees in February 2006, with other ski team members, Bryon Friedman and Eric Schlopy.
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Bode Miller had four first-place finishes in the early going of the 2007 World Cup.
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On May 12,2007, Bode Miller announced that he was leaving the US Ski Team.
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Bode Miller followed the precedent set by slalom skier Kristina Koznick, who left the US Ski Team following the 2000 season and raced the next six years for the US as an independent.
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In 2008 Bode Miller clinched his second overall championship at the World Cup finals in Bormio, Italy.
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Bode Miller missed a chance to win the season's downhill title when bad weather prevented the season's last race from being run.
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Bode Miller said that "the fire goes away after a while", and he hinted at retirement.
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Bode Miller made the US team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in late 2009 and was selected to compete in all five events, despite his lack of training.
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Bode Miller's time was 1:54.40, nine hundredths of a second behind gold medalist Didier Defago, and two hundredths behind Aksel Lund Svindal, who took the silver; the time difference between the gold and bronze medals was the smallest in Olympic downhill history.
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Bode Miller then won a silver in the super-G, giving him four Olympic medals, more than any other American alpine racer.
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Bode Miller then failed to finish both the giant slalom and the slalom, and took the rest of the season off due to continuing problems with his ankle injury.
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Bode Miller followed his Olympic success with the mediocre season, but still managed to finish Top 3 in three occasions.
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Bode Miller was third at the city event in Munich, second to Didier Cuche at Kitzbuehel's downhill and third in super-G at Hinterstoder.
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Bode Miller started World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen with typical Bode-like fashion at super-G race.
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Bode Miller was leading the field despite losing a pole midway through the course, however he lost his balance coming out of a bend at the bottom, slowed down and stood up as he crossed the finish line on 12th position.
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Bode Miller earned the 33rd World Cup win of his career with a downhill victory in Beaver Creek.
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Bode Miller topped young Swiss sensation Beat Feuz with four hundredths of a second.
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Bode Miller managed to finish 2nd in super-G at Val Gardena, 3rd in a super-combined event in Wengen and 2nd in a downhill race in Chamonix, where he was one hundredth of a second behind Klaus Kroell.
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At the beginning of his comeback season, Bode Miller unexpectedly finished second at Beaver Creek's giant slalom, only behind fellow American Ted Ligety, which was his first podium in the discipline since 2007.
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Bode Miller began the Winter Olympics by winning two out of three training sessions before the downhill.
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Bode Miller was then unable to defend his title from the previous Olympic Games as he finished sixth in the super combined event.
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On February 16,2014, Bode Miller became the oldest Olympic medalist in alpine skiing history, by winning a bronze medal in the super-G race.
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Bode Miller finished the season ranked eighth overall, his best in 6 years.
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On November 17,2014, Bode Miller announced that he would undergo outpatient back surgery to alleviate the pain and discomfort he had felt since the end of the previous season.
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Bode Miller terminated his contract with HEAD early under the restriction that he would not compete with other skis than HEAD on the World Cup circuit or in the World Alpine Ski Championships.
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Bode Miller was then able to sign a deal with US-based ski manufacturer Bomber Ski, which made Miller the brand's part owner.
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HEAD blocked the attempt, stating that Bode Miller had agreed not to compete with other ski brands for 2 years from the moment their agreement had been terminated.
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On October 31,2017, Bode Miller announced his retirement from competition.
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Bode Miller was inducted into the US Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame, Class of 2018.
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Bode Miller is one of the most successful alpine ski racers in Olympic history.
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Bode Miller participated in five Winter Olympics, from 1998 through 2014.
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Bode Miller had 19 starts in all five alpine disciplines and won six medals, including one gold in the super combined event in 2010.
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Bode Miller is the only American ski racer in history to win medals at three different Olympics.
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Bode Miller's fame was partly spawned by his 2002 Winter Olympics slalom performance.
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Bode Miller had already won two silver medals and was in line for a third when he missed a gate.
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Bode 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.
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Bode Miller was even called the "biggest bust in Olympic history" for his performance.
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Bode Miller was nominated for the Associated Press' Male Athlete of the Year award for 2010, but finished second to Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints football team thanks to votes cast for Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team who finished third.
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Bode Miller's surprisingly dominating performance in training for the downhill race helped to create a hype among press and fans, with his teammate Marco Sullivan saying that it was "his race to lose" and rival Kjetil Jansrud describing Bode Miller's performance in trainings as "epic".
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Just a day before the race, Bode Miller himself claimed that "The idea is to be unbeatable" and "I want to win".
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Bode Miller however defended Cooper afterwards in several occasions saying that "I know she didn't mean to push" and "I don't blame her at all".
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Miller 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.
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In 2006 Bode Miller was the subject of a biographical film produced by the Coruway Film Institute, Flying Downhill, which looks at the people and the place Bode Miller comes from, and where exactly each fits within his philosophy.
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Bode Miller has used a variety of skis during his World Cup career.
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Bode Miller originally started off on K2 skis, then raced on Fischer through the 2002 season.
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Bode Miller switched to Rossignol for two seasons, then Atomic for the following two.
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In May 2007, Bode Miller left the US Ski Team and raced independently for his personally financed Team America for two seasons.
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However, the next season was the worst of his career after he crashed hard in the Beaver Creek Downhill, injuring his heel, and Bode Miller folded Team America at the end of 2009.
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Bode Miller departed the 2009 season before its completion and rejoined the US Ski Team in October 2009.
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In 2002, Bode Miller won ABC Sports' Superstars competition, a televised event that pits athletes from different sports against one another in a series of athletic contests.
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Bode Miller was paired with Paige Hemmis and they finished in second place.
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On July 29,2006, Bode Miller signed a one-day contract to play baseball for the Nashua Pride.
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On July 23,2007, Bode 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.
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On June 3,2010, Bode Miller competed for a spot in the 2010 US Open through the new national playoff system introduced by the USTA.
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On October 7,2012, Bode Miller married professional beach-volleyball player and model Morgan Beck.
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Bode Miller's younger brother Chelone was a snowboarder who competed in the 2010 Winter X Games in the Snowboard X event.