Bode Miller, the drum major for a band that never fell into step, marched into Saturday’s slalom competition with a chance at a third Olympic medal–one more than any U.S. alpine skier had ever won and three more than the rest of the 2002 U.S. alpine team.
Miller’s relish for the late charge earned him silver medals in the giant slalom and in the alpine combined, where his second slalom run gobbled up a stunning two seconds on the lead.
Saturday, the course conditions were sketchy, but the karma seemed right. Miller sat in second place after the first run, 0.36 seconds behind Jean-Pierre Vidal of France. A lucky draw allowed Jesse Hunt, technical coach for the U.S. men, to set the gates for the second run. No one knows better what line plays to Miller’s strengths.
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Miller characteristically decided he would go for broke. He missed a gate high on the course, sidestepped back to it, slid off course again 20 seconds later and gamely hiked back a second time. He pushed across the finish line, out of contention, to an appreciative ovation from the crowd of 14,000-plus at Deer Valley Resort.
Vidal was left with a two-second lead over his next-closest competitor, the skiing equivalent of an open goal. He carved his turns carefully and took the gold in a time of 1 minute 41.06 seconds.
“I knew he would take all the risks, and that if he was in the finish corral, it will be very difficult for me,” Vidal, 24, said of Miller.
“But when I knew that he was out, if I just finished the race, it would be OK.”
Miller looked slightly crestfallen after his 25th-place finish but maintained he had held to his game plan.
“If I could have guaranteed myself silver if I’d backed off, maybe I would have done that,” he said. “But there’s no guarantees. If I’d backed off and come down in fifth place, I would have been really disappointed. I can say I’m a little bit disappointed not to have made it down the course, but to have skied the way I did felt really good.
“It’s a tough hill, it’s steep, it’s icy, but it’s so warm out that the ice breaks up. Those are the toughest kind of conditions to attack in. But if you want to win you’ve got to be willing to do it.”
Vidal’s teammate, Sebastien Amiez, finished second and Alain Baxter of Scotland held on for third to capture Great Britain’s first alpine medal.
Miller’s performance in Utah saved the U.S. alpine team from a deflating medal shutout and stamped the 24-year-old from Franconia, N.H., as the new leader of the men’s squad. Currently ranked second in the World Cup slalom standings, Miller has shown he can harness his energy and stay on course.
While Miller hit the right notes, the alpine team as a whole appears out of sync, especially considering the burst of helpful adrenaline that usually attends a home Games.
The women posted only one top-10 finish in five events–17-year-old Lindsey C. Kildow’s sixth in the combined–and the veterans on the men’s side could not rise to the occasion. The most encouraging performances came from unheralded skiers like Jonna Mendes, 22, 11th in the women’s downhill; Marco Sullivan, 21, ninth in the men’s downhill; Thomas Vonn, 26th, ninth in the super-G; and Chip Knight, 27, 12th in the slalom.
U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association President Bill Marolt, who set a goal of 10 Olympic medals for his athletes, conceded that “some didn’t come in ways we maybe thought.”
Snowboarders accounted for five medals, freestyle skiers for three and Miller for the balance.
“We’ll evaluate everything in the spring like we always do,” Marolt said.
“We’ll make the necessary adjustments and we’ll go forward.”