A different Bode Miller showed up for the Vancouver Games than the one who totally bombed out in Torino.
The difference between Miller's 2010 Olympic performance and what he did in 2006 is night and day.
Miller had already won two medals in Vancouver, a bronze and a silver, when he won an Olympic gold on Sunday.
WHISTLER, British Columbia - Bode Miller now has three medals at these Winter Games and five for his career. The five Alpine medals tie him for the second-most by any man in Olympic history, behind the eight won by Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway.
And while Miller has long insisted that medals matter little to him, his father held a little different view of the situation. He thought his son was "hungry" for that elusive gold, almost burdened by it.
"There was something that was definitely on his shoulders," said Woody Miller, who's from Franconia, N.H. "I think it's more like he's enjoying himself. That's always been key for him. He lost that."
Consider it found again.
Woody Miller couldn't find the words to describe his son's final slalom run, saying only that he was really "ripping there" in the slalom. He knew his son nailed it by his expression crossing the finish line.
"He was pleased with his run," Woody Miller said. "I could see that on his face."
That sure wasn't the case four years ago at the Turin Games. Touted as the star of those games, Bode Miller left empty-handed, drawing more attention for his social life than his skiing.
"I'm sure he was trying as hard as he could in every event, but he wasn't experiencing the joy of racing," Woody Miller said. "He is now."
Hard not to.
There have been no expectations at this Olympics, and maybe that's helped, his dad suggested.
Although Bode Miller is getting a lot of attention for his accomplishments in Vancouver, and rightfully so, I think there's been kind of a tendency to gloss over just what a jerk Miller was at the Olympics four years ago.
In an interview with the Associated Press, February 26, 2006, Miller discussed his Olympic experience in Torino:
"I just did it my way. I'm not a martyr, and I'm not a do-gooder. I just want to go out and rock. And man, I rocked here."
...As for his obligation to prepare, Miller said he was less ready for these games than the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, where he won two silver medals.
"I've been living my life as if I might have died two weeks before the Olympics started. That left me the opportunity to dig deep, to go down that other route, to make more sacrifices and get back to where I was."
He called his Olympic experience "awesome" and cited the gold medals by teammates Julia Mancuso and Ted Ligety as one reason. Another, he said, was Sestriere's bar scene.
"My quality of life is the priority. I wanted to have fun here, to enjoy the Olympic experience, not be holed up in a closet and not ever leave your room," he said. "People said, 'Why can't you stay in for the two weeks, three weeks? You've got the rest of your life to experience the games the way everybody else does.' But I like the whole package. I always have."
..."Me, it's been an awesome two weeks," Miller said. "I got to party and socialize at an Olympic level."
That sounds like a teenager talking, not a 28-year-old man.
I'm glad that Miller was happy with his accomplishments four years ago in Torino, partying at the Olympic level, because he had absolutely nothing else to show for his two weeks at the Games.
Miller shouldn't be considered a loser at Torino because he failed to get any medals. He was a loser because he didn't care.
I think Miller has matured quite a bit since then. He seems to care. I get the feeling that "I got to party and socialize at an Olympic level" wouldn't come out of Miller's mouth in 2010.
At 32, he seems to have shed that childishness. He seems to have grown up. I could be wrong, but he seems different.
In any event, Miller isn't a winner because he's managed to pick up three medals so far in Vancouver.
He's a winner because he seems to be giving the best he's got.
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