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BODE
MILLER HAD A GREAT DAY
Bode tell us your thoughts on the
day?
It was just a great day. I was thinking
it was an interesting cycle from my
first World Cup here in November 1997
at Park City until now. That first
World Cup had similar conditions I
ever raced here with the snow…
It just seems like a long time ago,
and to finally come down and be at
the top of the podium is pretty cool.
It reflects back on that amount of
time and how much energy I put in
to get from 11th place to first...
What do you think about this course?
This hill brings out the best and
the worst in me. It's in front of
the home crowd and obviously I don't
want to leave anything out there;
I don't want to come down and know
I didn't take that much risk and be
in fifth place.
So, I tend to take a lot of risks
here and the hill lends itself to
my kind of speed. It's got the really
sharp kinds of transitions and I'm
able to adapt really well...and the
snow is great. It's perfect snow,
really.
But when I take that much risk, whether
the snow's perfect or not, I usually
end up getting crazy.
The first run today I skied really
well, exceptionally well the whole
way and then I had that little unfortunate
incident with the wind and the gate
at the bottom – the gate was
blowing straight up the hill and I
had to go out around that, which is
really unusual – normally that
wouldn't happen. It was disappointing
to know I gave away a lot of time
right there and i didn't want that
to be the reason I didn't win the
race. So, I was willing to take the
risk any way but that added to the
fact Erik was hurt and I really felt
we really had a chance to be one-two
in this race...it just allowed me
to dip into the reserves a little
bit and get a little more aggressive
on that second run I went out of the
gate ready to attack the course no
matter what.
It was probably a good thing I did
because it was really intimidating
down that pitch., It was really bumpy,
chewed up and you couldn't see a thing.
You can see a lot actually but you
can't see the ground. It looks perfect
to you and yet your head's bouncing
and your skis are bouncing all over
the place, so I felt like it's a tough
thing to stay aggressive when the
light's flat.
Hans said you were looking very
confident today...
Skiing is skiing for me. I don't really
need a lot of external motivation
to win...It was really frustrating
to see Erik get bit the way he did
today. It was one of the things we
talked about a lot.
I was crashing a lot when I was 19,
20, 21, 22 on the World Cup. And during
that time I had a ton of speed - I
was winning World Cup runs, too, even
that long ago – and i got a lot
of that tactical information you need
to make good decisions like I did.
I could've gone a lot faster on the
second run but I wouldn't have made
it. As it was, I was right on the
edge of making it...
You have to make judgment calls on
every single turn the whole way down.
It's frustrating for me to see Erik
had tons of speed when he was young,
but not the kind of speed that wins
World Cups. And then, he's –
in the last two years – come
to grips with the fact he needs to
push his limits a little bit more.
He needs to be outside his comfort
zone on a regular basis if he wants
to win – and he does, so at World
Championships last year he had that
great second run from 23rd to the
3rd place in GS that really had him
excited about doing that – outside
his comfort zone and skied amazing
and had a huge result out of it.
Now, I think you're seeing some of
the same process I went through for
a while where you've got more speed
than anyone in the world, and in that
case he has to make better judgment
calls on his tactics than anyone else
in the world...
It's frustrating for me because he
is right there. He's right on the
doorstep of his potential, and to
see him get setback the way he did
today is really tough.
It’s sad to see an athlete taken
out of his sport like that. Not to
mention he’s a good friend and
a good teammate and this is a tough
blow to the team.
How important was it for an American
to win today?
For America, it is really important
to have a win. It’s what we need
to get more people excited about the
sport. America is not a great second-place
country. For a World Cup racer, you
get second you're pretty psyched,
but for the U.S. you're just the first-place
loser...
I think it was important for the crowd,
for our team, and maybe for our country
to have a win today was important.
...
Can you talk about the skis you were
on today?
It's not really very fair right now.
Skiing can be broken down into a few
different areas – there's the
flats, there's the pitches and then
there's arcing and an active or a
sled turn, and I think the Rossignol
GS ski right now is number one in
every area of that. Across the flats
I'm faster than anyone and down the
pitches I'm faster than anyone and
making the recovery, which is where
the sliding comes in, they're easier
to make recoveries on than any ski
I've ever been on.
It's not fair but it's great for me.
It feels like I can do whatever I
want when I'm on those skis. I can
make recoveries, I can make decisions
at the last second and it makes those
tactical decisions a lot easier when
you don't have to plan a gate ahead
or two gates ahead.
How much has your recent eye surgery
helped?
On a day like today, it probably didn't
matter as much because no one could
see anything. It didn't matter how
good your vision was. Second run you
couldn't see anything even if you
had X-ray vision. It's been a confidence
builder that I can see at least as
well as everyone else now.
What is it about this course for
you?
This hill makes me ski aggressively,
especially with the crowd the way
it is. I put out my maximum effort,
and I’m just not willing to do
otherwise in front of the home crowd...
I am really tall, and it helps. Keeping
your skis on the snow during those
transitions is very important. Through
those transitions, I tend to ski a
much more direct line but I also go
a bit slower. That enables me to set
up and get ahead of the course a little
bit before I hit the gates again.
You’ve talked about how great
your GS skis are. Have you found slalom
skis you like yet?
It’s still a struggle for a lot
of people. We went through that transitional
period last year with Rossignol and
they did bring one prototype pair
to Soelden that I tried and they were
good. They’ve built a few models
of that since, but I just haven’t
had much time on them...
We heard you spoke with Erik in
between runs. What did you talk about?
He said it was a tough break and to
go out and win the second run for
him. I was planning to do that anyway,
but I did tell him I would take some
heat to that stretch of the run and
slap a few of those gates around.
What are your thoughts on Hermann
Maier skiing again? Does it motivate
you?
Like I’ve said before, I don’t
need any external motivations. But
I think Hermann is great. Everyone
knows how scary he was at the top
when he was at his prime. He was always
a little bit cold, to the media I
mean. I always thought he was rather
one-dimensional. But it’s obvious
he has gone through things that have
definitely changed his life and you
can see that. I’m not surprised
he took that determination he always
had into his rehab and training.
Lisa Antonucci (US Ski Team)
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