Bode Miller finally wins Olympic gold

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Bode Miller finally won his elusive gold medal, using a blistering slalom run Sunday to complete one of the most unlikely Olympic comebacks ever.

Four years after bombing out amid lofty expectations at the Turin Games and a year after practically walking away from the sport, Miller won the super-combined for his third medal in as many events at Vancouver.

Seventh after the morning downhill run, Miller skied the third-fastest afternoon slalom leg for a two-run time of 2 minutes, 44.92 seconds — a comfortable 0.33 ahead of Ivica Kostelic of Croatia, who matched his silver medal at Turin. Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland claimed bronze, 0.40 back.

RELATED STORY:
• U.S. stars win more medals — but not gold

For a guy who has insisted that medals aren’t important, this one clearly was special.

“The way I executed, the way I skied, is something I’ll be proud of the rest of my life,” Miller said.

“I skied with 100 percent heart — I didn’t hold anything back. … It’s just awesome. There’s nothing else to say.”

Having skipped summer training while he debated retiring, Miller nearly didn’t have enough energy to hold on as he came over the final pitch of the slalom course.

“My legs started feeling really wobbly,” he said. “I didn’t even feel like I was looking at the gate anymore.”

Miller has also won a silver and a bronze at the Vancouver Games — a sharp contrast from his no-medal performance in Turin, where he made more headlines for his late-night partying than his skiing.

Miller said he was running on “fumes” following his first two races, the downhill and the super-G.

“I felt awesome about it,” he said. “But still, it’s incredibly emotionally exhausting to do it like that.

“I’ve got one leg that’s injured and another leg that’s on my boat already,” he added, looking forward to his postseason vacation.

Miller and Kostelic were 1-2 when downhill leader Aksel Lund Svindal came down, and when the big Norwegian failed to complete his slalom leg, Miller had the gold medal that had eluded him since he burst onto the scene at Salt Lake City in 2002.

Story Continues →