It was certainly an emotional day for Bode Miller, the aging U.S. Olympic alpine skier who is undoubtedly making his final appearance in the Winter Olympics.
The 36-year-old Miller added one more Olympic medal Sunday, taking third place in the super-G at the Sochi Olympics. Canada’s Jan Hudec tied Miller for bronze.
However, thoughts turned to Miller’s departed brother after the decorated U.S. picked up his record-setting sixth Olympic medal.
Miller honors his brother
Chelone “Chilly” Miller, a competitive snowboarder known for his progressive style, was found dead in his van from a seizure in April 2013.
Bode Miller wiped away tears in the finish area after someone mentioned Chelone, a charismatic snowboarder who was 29 and hoping to make the U.S. team in Sochi.
“Everything felt pretty raw and pretty connected, so it was a lot for me,” Miller said.
After the race, Miller honored his younger brother on Twitter: “Thanks for all the support, today was one of the most emotional days of my life. I miss my brother.”
Miller’s sixth Olympic medal put him two behind the all-time Alpine leader Kjetil Andre Aamodt of Norway.
“To be on the podium, it’s a really big day for me,” said Miller, who placed a disappointing 8th in downhill and 6th in super-combined at the Sochi Olympics. “Emotionally, I had a lot riding on it. I’m super, super happy.”
U.S. skier Weibrecht takes silver medal
It was a good day for American skiers and much needed. Miller claimed a bronze and was edged out for silver by U.S. skier Andrew Weibrecht. The U.S. Alpine team has only three medals. The first one was a bronze by Julia Mancuso of Lake Tahoe.
Kjetil Jansrud of Norway won the gold medal. Jansrud finished the choppy course in 1 minute, 18.14 seconds. Starting 29th, Weibrecht flew down the hill and was 0.30 seconds behind Jansrud’s gold medal time.
Weibrecht was certainly an improbable silver medal finisher. In 95 World Cup races, Weibrecht never finished better than 10th. Yet he owns two Olympic medals. The other one came four years ago when he got bronze at the Vancouver Olympics.
Lake Tahoe’s Ganong finishes 23rd
Travis Ganong came in 23rd and was 1.87 seconds behind Jansrud. Fellow American Ted Ligety was a disappointing 14th.
Ganong, who skis out of Squaw Valley ski resort, had a great downhill earlier in the week when he was the top U.S. finisher, taking 5th. After the super-G, he was happy regarding Miller.
“To see Bode back on the podium was great. He was my idol growing up,” Ganong said. “I saw him over there kind of crouched next to the fence just kind of reflecting, some tears of joy. He came here to be on the podium and it’s awesome (that it happened).”
