Bode Miller

Samuel Bode Miller (born October 12, 1977) is an American former World Cup alpine ski racer.

Miller not only first appeared in the World Cup during the 1998 season but also represented the United States in the 1998 Nagano Olympics, competing in both of the technical disciplines (giant slalom and slalom).

In 1999, he also competed in super-G (which is considered a speed discipline, not a technical one) and represented the U.S. in all three events at the World Ski Championships at Beaver Creek, with a best finish of 8th in slalom.

He finally achieved a podium in a giant slalom at Val d'Isère on December 17, 2000 (placing third), but then only competed in super-G at the 2001 World Ski Championships; he crashed during the downhill portion of the combined and tore knee ligaments, which ended his competition.

During this season, Miller began regularly competing in downhill, making him a five-event skier on the World Cup circuit, although he was still considered a technical specialist.

Miller won his first World Cup race on December 29, 2001, taking the giant slalom at Val-d'Isère, and then followed it up the next day with another win in the slalom at Madonna di Campiglio.

Miller won six medals in the Winter Olympics, the most of any U.S. skier − two silvers (giant slalom and combined) in Salt Lake City 2002, a gold (super combined), a silver (super-G) and a bronze (downhill) in Vancouver 2010 and a bronze (super-G) in Sochi 2014.

Miller is one of 5 skiers who have won Olympic medals in 4 different disciplines, matching the feats of Kjetil André Aamodt and female racers Anja Pärson, Janica Kostelić and Katja Seizinger.

Miller ended his career with six discipline World Cup titles and also won four World Championships titles in four different disciplines (giant slalom, combined, super-G and downhill) and one silver medal in super-G.

While his skiing career was coming to an end, Miller had switched his attention and investment to horse racing.

Miller first gained widespread recognition after winning two silver medals at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in the giant slalom and combined events, though he had been known to skiing fans since he burst onto the international scene as an 18-year-old in 1996.

Miller is known for his reckless style, often risking crashes to increase his chances of winning a given race; in his book, Bode: Go Fast, Be Good, Have Fun, Miller stated that his goal as a skier was not to win medals, but rather to ski "as fast as the natural universe will allow."

He would go on to win two more slalom races in January 2002, along with a pair of silver medals at the 2002 Winter Olympics in February, thus establishing himself as the top racer on the U.S. Ski Team.

Miller won his first ever Olympic medal on February 13, in the combined event.

Miller challenged for the 2003 World Cup overall title but fell just short, finishing second to Stephan Eberharter of Austria.

He is an Olympic and World Championship gold medalist, a two-time overall World Cup champion in 2005 and 2008, and the most successful male American alpine ski racer of all time.

He is also considered one of the greatest World Cup racers of all time with 33 race victories and being one of five men (and last to date) to win World Cup events in all five disciplines.

He is the only skier with five or more victories in each discipline.

In 2006, Miller also became famous for his reclusive (but outspoken) personality and his attention-getting statements.

In 2008, Miller and Lindsey Vonn won the overall World Cup titles for the first U.S. sweep in 25 years.

During his career, Miller was the initial investor in lifestyle and nutrition brand Onnit in 2010, a company founded by his close friend Aubrey Marcus.

He was 15th after the downhill portion losing 2.44 seconds to Kjetil André Aamodt.

He then put a remarkable second run of the slalom portion to finish second overall just 0.28 behind Aamodt.

Later on Miller won a second silver medal, this time in the giant slalom where he lost only to Stephan Eberharter of Austria.

Miller was on a verge of winning medals in all disciplines he had entered at the Olympics, while he was second after first run of the slalom race.

At the starting gate before his final run Miller had already a huge advantage of 1.79 seconds over then leading Sébastien Amiez.

Instead of having a careful run to secure at least another silver medal, Miller decided to push for a gold.

The tactics resulted in a fall and missed gate, which caused him to finish far behind the medal positions.

This was his final season on Fischer skis; he switched to Rossignol following the season's completion.

He officially retired from ski racing in October 2017.

During and after his ski career, Miller has been involved in multiple businesses as a founder, strategic advisor and investor.

In 2020, Miller co-founded SKEO, a wearable ski tracking app company.

In January 2021, Miller joined the Board of Directors of Opex Technologies, an IT Technology company focused on advising, implementing, and supporting technology transformation projects.

Most recently, in December 2021, Miller joined Alpine-X, developers of year-round indoor snowsports resorts, as an investor and Chief Innovation Officer, alongside his business partner Andrew Wirth who joined as a Strategic Advisor.

Born in Easton, New Hampshire, to Jo Kenney and Woody Miller, Miller grew up in nearby Franconia, a small community in the heart of New Hampshire's White Mountains that comprises the Cannon Mountain Ski Area.

His family, including older sister Kyla, and younger brother Chelone, lived on 450 acre of land in a forest, where his parents celebrated solstices, in a log cabin without electricity or indoor plumbing.

He was raised a vegetarian.

He was homeschooled until the third grade, but after his parents divorced, he began attending public school.

He applied for and got a scholarship to the Carrabassett Valley Academy, a ski racing academy in Maine.

His mother's parents owned and started the Tamarack Tennis Camp, and he has played tennis and soccer since childhood.