Widgetized Section

Go to Admin » Appearance » Widgets » and move Gabfire Widget: Social into that MastheadOverlay zone

Bode Miller says he’s ‘ready to race’ as 2015 Worlds kick off with women’s super-G

By
February 3, 2015, 6:52 am

Bode Miller, who’s won a world championship in every ski-racing discipline except slalom, declared himself “ready to race” Monday at the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships at Beaver Creek.

2015 worlds

Raptor made its World Championships debut with women’s downhill training on Monday. (Getty Images-Doug Pensinger)

Miller, the most decorated male ski racer in the history of U.S. ski racing, is coming off back surgery this fall and has not yet raced in a regular-season World Cup event. He did manage to forerun races in Wengen, Switzerland and Kitzbuhel, Austria, last month.

“Luckily, I got through those races in Europe, even though I didn’t race,” Miller said in Beaver Creek Monday. “As far as what I hoped, everything went as well as I could have hoped. I’m here and ready to race.

“Coming in here for World Championships — if [coach] Sasha [Rearick] puts me in there — I’m going to try and win the races.”

Four of Miller’s American men’s record 33 World Cup wins have come at Beaver Creek.

As far as Worlds go, he and Ted Ligety are tied for the fifth most Alpine World Ski Championships medals all-time with five apiece — each with four golds.

Miller has a gold in every discipline except slalom (all at the 2003 and 2005 Worlds) and one silver (in super-G at St. Moritz in 2003).

Ligety has won four World Championships golds (GS, combined and super-G at Schladming in 2013 and GS in Garmisch in 2011) and a GS bronze in Val d’Isere in GS in 2009.

“Defending all three gold medals here would be a dream come true, but it’s not necessarily the most realistic expectation,” Ligety said of his magical run at the last Worlds in Schladming, Austria, in 2013.

“I’m not really getting nervous about it. I’m going to try and ski hard. I think those hills are really good for me, so if there’s a place for it to be possible for me to repeat, this is one of the better places. But it’s not something I’m consumed with.”

Ligety has won five times at Beaver Creek on the regular World Cup circuit, all in GS.

The men get underway on Wednesday, Feb. 4, with the super-G on Birds of Prey at 11 a.m.

The women kick out of the start gate today at 11 a.m. with the super-G race. They got in one training run of downhill on Monday, with American Stacey Cook leading the way, and hometown favorite Lindsey Vonn in fourth.

All races are free and open to the public. Go to the official website for more information.

The following two tabs change content below.
My Twitter profile

David O. Williams

Managing Editor at RealVail
David O. Williams is the editor and co-founder of RealVail.com and has had his awarding-winning work (see About Us) published in more than 75 newspapers and magazines around the world, including 5280 Magazine, American Way Magazine (American Airlines), the Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), the Anchorage Daily Press (Alaska), Aspen Daily News, Aspen Journalism, the Aspen Times, Beaver Creek Magazine, the Boulder Daily Camera, the Casper Star Tribune (Wyoming), the Chicago Tribune, Colorado Central Magazine, the Colorado Independent (formerly Colorado Confidential), Colorado Newsline, Colorado Politics (formerly the Colorado Statesman), Colorado Public News, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Colorado Statesman (now Colorado Politics), the Colorado Times Recorder, the Cortez Journal, the Craig Daily Press, the Curry Coastal Pilot (Oregon), the Daily Trail (Vail), the Del Norte Triplicate (California), the Denver Daily News, the Denver Gazette, the Denver Post, the Durango Herald, the Eagle Valley Enterprise, the Eastside Journal (Bellevue, Washington), ESPN.com, Explore Big Sky (Mont.), the Fort Morgan Times (Colorado), the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the Greeley Tribune, the Huffington Post, the King County Journal (Seattle, Washington), the Kingman Daily Miner (Arizona), KUNC.org (northern Colorado), LA Weekly, the Las Vegas Sun, the Leadville Herald-Democrat, the London Daily Mirror, the Moab Times Independent (Utah), the Montgomery Journal (Maryland), the Montrose Daily Press, The New York Times, the Parent’s Handbook, Peaks Magazine (now Epic Life), People Magazine, Powder Magazine, the Pueblo Chieftain, PT Magazine, the Rio Blanco Herald Times (Colorado), Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine, the Rocky Mountain News, RouteFifty.com (formerly Government Executive State and Local), the Salt Lake Tribune, SKI Magazine, Ski Area Management, SKIING Magazine, the Sky-Hi News, the Steamboat Pilot & Today, the Sterling Journal Advocate (Colorado), the Summit Daily News, United Hemispheres (United Airlines), Vail/Beaver Creek Magazine, Vail en Español, Vail Health Magazine, Vail Valley Magazine, the Vail Daily, the Vail Trail, Westword (Denver), Writers on the Range and the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Williams is also the founder, publisher and editor of RealVail.com and RockyMountainPost.com.