Bode Miller took over 'Vonn-couver'

Last Updated: Sunday, February 28, 2010 | 1:41 PM ET

By Jesse Campigotto, CBC Sports

Bode Miller completed his rainbow collection of Vancouver medals by winning his first-ever Olympic gold in the super-combined. (Clive Rose/Getty Images)Just when you think Bode Miller is out, he pulls you back in.

It was easy to write off the mercurial American's chances at the Vancouver Olympics. At 32, he was two years removed from the second of his alpine World Cup overall titles. He ranked an uninspiring 15th this season, same as where he finished last year.

And who could forget what happened at the last Olympics?

Hyped as a threat to win medals in all five alpine disciplines (no man has ever won more than three), Miller finished no better than fifth in any race, and didn't even finish three of them.

That would've been enough for the fickle American press to bury him, but the outspoken Miller gave the hangmen even more rope just prior to the Games by claiming in a 60 Minutes interview that he'd competed while "wasted." After the Turin washout, he said at least he'd enjoyed the Olympic party scene.

Many casual viewers in the States couldn't wait for Miller to go away, and the feeling was probably mutual. The guy seems to do his best work when he comes from outside the spotlight, and he showed as much by winning his second overall crown in 2007-08 - a comfortable distance removed from both the 2006 and 2010 Olympics.

Miller arrived in Vancouver with almost no fanfare. The U.S. media had itself a new skiing star in Lindsey Vonn, the two-time reigning women's overall champ and the overwhelming favourite in the sport's marquee event, the downhill.

The fresh-faced American seemed poised to turn the host city into "Vonn-couver."

First, he nudged his way onto the downhill podium for a bronze, then took silver in the super-G, then completed the rainbow collection by winning his first-ever Olympic gold in the super-combined.

"To come into the Games and to perform the way I did and to feel the kind of enjoyment from skiing and from expressing myself on my skis the way I did is phenomenal,'' said Miller, very much a product of his hippie upbringing in rural New Hampshire.

"A lot of why I skied the way I did and the feelings I had were based on the whole circumstances surrounding the Olympics, all the energy and all the enthusiasm,'' he said.

Miller couldn't become the first man to win four alpine medals at a single Games - he missed gates while pushing his limits in both the giant slalom and slalom - but his three podium finishes gave him a U.S. record and made him one of just five men to accomplish the feat (Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal also won a medal of each colour in Vancouver).

Miller, who captured a pair of silvers at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, now owns five Olympic medals. About Vonn, let's be clear: her Olympics were not a disappointment. Sure, she DNF'd in three of her five races, but Vonn overcame a painful shin injury to win that coveted downhill gold and pick up a bronze in the super-G.

Still, Vonn was outshined by both a teammate (Miller) and a best friend. Maria Riesch, the German star who's Vonn's closest pal on the World Cup circuit, won double gold in the combined and slalom.

"There's definitely been a lot of ups and downs, shin injury, finger injury, gold medal, crashing. There's been a lot going on,'' said Vonn.

"My goal coming into these Games was to win one medal, and I have one gold and one bronze, and I'm incredibly happy and proud of those accomplishments," she said.

As for Miller, will we see him at another Olympics? True to form, he said he's not even sure where he'll be a year from now.

"I don't know. We'll see. I have no idea."