Frankly, this wasn’t a moment of immortality or elation, but a redemption story for an embattled U.S. skier Bode Miller. He arrives later, perhaps, than when he was supposed to breakthrough as the world's greatest skier, enduring much of the attention with his pure supremacy as advertised.
Instead, in what quickly became misery, Miller failed to secure a medal at the Turin Games, strung out on alcohol beverages.
Considering that he was fond of partying at nearly all the local bars in Turin, he never had a focal point of recovering to reach incremental aspiration in the crucial games.
It was, however, a huge disappointment refusing to take pride of the exalted honors as an Olympian.
It was, however, a disgrace becoming an official embarrassment to the talented U.S. ski team, with enough mastery to travel home elated of winning the ultimate prize.
To me, the ultimate prize isn’t silver or bronze, but gold, a noble prize all Olympians dream about.
It seems, finally, Miller has mellowed into a responsible and perceptive U.S. star. Reaching an understanding on what an appearance in the Winter Games is about, he isn’t enabling an infamous intoxication to affect his performance level, but implements insight of what it takes to be considered an elite athlete at the Winter Games.
Had he not realized the significance of avoiding bartenders and beer to disencumber disadvantages, Miller wouldn’t be facing good fortune, but probably would have self-destructed in mire seconds. Guess it’s fine to admit he’s back striving for redemption and answering to critics whom believed he was a bigger fool and partier mocked of frivolity.
Where he earned his biggest reward and exaltation, Miller is a different athlete with a much serious attitude. Suddenly, he’s more than an apathetic athlete out there to have a good time, while partying and suffering headaches the next morning caused severe hangovers. There was no resemblance of the famous failures that burned his reputation four years ago, erecting disastrous shame and was an insult to America pride.
The optimist once again believes in retaliation, excited of his positive repercussions when he ended a horrid drought finishing empty of a medal. So when he broke a personal streak that has hunted him the last four years, Miller took bronze in the Olympic downhill Monday, while Didier Defago of Switzerland won gold and stopped the bleeding of a two-decade drought.
That’s tremendous felicity for the Swiss, but the greater tale is Miller rebounding of all the lapses taunting a colorful career in downhill skiing.
From the overacting of spending long nights in the bars to additional preparation, he relinquished all weaknesses and devoted more ample time in reaching a quest. Sometimes it takes disappointing outings, returning to regular form, and skiing at a premium, in which a wake up call at Turin confirmed the values of competing in the world’s greatest games.
And that’s what it took for Miller to realize he was washing away a dream, as years are numbered.
As he continues aging, winning a gold medal (or any for that matter) is a priceless opportunity. The vibes of him competing at a high level, presumably, for the first time in an every-four-year event is uplifting and precious, after battling with adversity for foolish judgment while spending leisure time away from the snowy mountains.
But at Whistler Mountain, among the beautiful and refreshing sites of the British Columbia where the rain has fallen immensely, Miller was impressive and put a smile on faces.
Among those disgruntled supporters, he disappointed them, saddened them as most disbelieved and disapproved of his tawdry drinking habits. Four years ago, no one shook off obnoxious remarks when he said during an interview it’s not easy “to ski when you’re wasted.” That led to a sincere apology, after he spoke to United States Ski and Snowboard Association President and CEO Bill Marolt.
At that point, it provoked further controversy when team donors and corporate sponsors phoned the USSA with fuming calls regarding the everlasting chaos. Ridiculed for such an absurd explanation following his failures at Turin, he was blamed for the awful meltdown and lost all credibility.
As if the sarcastic comment wasn’t inane, he had mistaken it for a joke while most were filled with anger. Later on, the populace treated the insensitive responses with strong bitterness.
Of course, his derelict morals weren’t only a hassle to skiing in general, but the representation he brought when he arrived to Turin. Often, his outspokenness created trouble, or when calling drug rules too strict of “a joke”, a wicked attitude that never settled too well with citizens.
Under much tension to redeem himself of arrogance and rudeness, Miller skiing under the influence diminished long ago. All of which we live in a forgiven country, perhaps, unlike some countries in the world. In what might be the final quest of Miller’s skiing career, he could depart the Winter Games on top and erase all the nonsense.
Although much of Miller’s childish mind games are unimportant during the wonderful scenes of the Olympics, he represents America and might conquer hope for a country long awaiting greatness. The results are that he’s older and well-experienced, attentive of capturing gold, and unselfish of citizens eager to glance at pride.
How convenient when he used to be uncaring of winning and bringing joy to the states. That goes to show you, things change within four years.
It certainly has for Bode.
Let’s witness the similarities of the 2002 Winter Games at Salt Lake City, where he won two silver medals before turning allegedly into an alcoholic, succumbing an athletic sequence and had a zest relaxing in bars sipping on liquor to suffocate his performance level.
The news headlines centered around the disobedient Miller, a ruckus stealing front page news. Consider that he faltered to win a medal at the ’07 and ’09 World Championships, shambles that almost forced him to deliberate as to whether he’d retire or compete in what could be his final run in the Olympics.
And suddenly, he’s redeeming a shabby reputation, and perished all the criticism after having the best performance during his Olympian regime.
If he was under the influence, he isn’t now.
