“This wound will never heal”: Ex-skier Bode Miller is struck by fate

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33 World Cup races, two overall World Cup titles, four World Championships and one Olympic gold – Bode Miller (46) won all this during his skiing career. The American was seen as a shrill bird, and not just because of his wild driving style. He threw parties and lived in a mobile home instead of a hotel.

“You had to see who I was through skiing,” Miller said in an interview with the “NZZ”. «I didn’t ride like the others. That wasn’t the intention, I was just very expressive on my skis.”

“Something is broken in the system”

It wasn’t until the age of 37 that Miller gave up his skis. “If I hadn’t enjoyed it, I would have stopped sooner, because there are plenty of other things in my life,” he says, looking back. He would also have liked to see other athletes at the World Cup longer. For example Lucas Braathen. Shortly before the start of the season, the Norwegian suddenly announced his retirement – at the age of 23.

Miller finds it sad that someone with so much talent and ability says goodbye so young. To him it is clear “that something is broken in the system”. Rules and lack of freedom would limit so much. “What you do, how you train, how you behave, how you ski, which model of ski you choose, what you look like – everything is taken care of.”

No victory in Kitzbühel, no problem

That’s why Miller always broke out of the system. “I spoke like I felt, I rode like I felt and I trained like I felt,” he explains. But the mobile home was not an expression of that. This was for logistical reasons, so he didn’t have to constantly check in and out of hotels.

Despite many successes, Miller “had no problem with not winning as many races or with people telling me I could be better if I wanted to.” He is still being asked about the fact that he did not win the downhill or slalom in Kitzbühel (Austria). That’s because he was “at parties most of the time.” These experiences were important to his life. “I loved winning races, but that wasn’t my whole life.”

His brother’s death was shocking

His life today is family. He has six children with his wife Morgan Beck (36), and two more from a previous relationship. And then there is Emmy. The girl who was brutally taken from her life in 2018 at the age of 19. It drowned in the pool. “It’s still very difficult for me right now,” Miller said. And draws a comparison with his brother. In 2006 he suffered a brain injury and died in 2013. His life at the time was selfish: “I was just gone”.

When he died it was shocking. “Death is the way it is, you can’t fight it,” Miller says. The pain of losing his brother did not last as long as it did for his little Emmy. “We had a genetic connection, I was used to being connected to her,” he tells the “Tagesanzeiger”. “If this connection is simply broken, this wound can never heal. She stays.” You get used to it, no matter how painful, sad or shitty it is. But: “For me it remains the worst.” (beer)

Source : Blick