Bode Miller
I don't put anything in front of taking ski racing and sports seriously.Collection: Sports
My daughter's name is Neesyn Dacey but everyone calls her Dacey. Her mom chose Neesyn and I chose Dacey after she was born. The mother is a good friend of mine who I was seeing a while ago. We are no longer together.Collection: Mom
But there was no question in my mind that I was gonna still go for it. I was still going for the win. I wasn't skiing for second or third place today, and in the end I think that's probably what got me there.
A huge adrenaline rush is usually followed by a pretty low point.
Sometimes it's all about the win, sometimes it's about the skiing.
My goal is the same as every year - to not hurt myself.
People in the U.S. will watch anything if it's put in front of their face over and over again. I like to see what's possible, more than anything.
My grandfather was very into horse racing, and I found some of his old journals and got into it from there. It has a lot of parallels to skiing. It's a fun lifestyle, being around the racetrack.
I always do the contrary of what my coaches tell me.
In some ways, that's the story of my season - when I wasn't making big mistakes, I was winning races and being on the podium. And when I made mistakes I was still fourth or fifth, just off the podium.
It's not quite as important who you beat as that you end up on top.
That feeling is the same whether you're on either side of the hundredths. Obviously, it's great to win the world championship, but if you put down that kind of skiing, it's awesome either way.
Once the season starts for me, there isn't a change in my focus, just a change in my tactics and strategies.
When you back off, it's easier to do mistakes. For me it's better to ski fast.
I think four Olympics is probably enough. Five Olympics is a long time, but there's nothing wrong with that if I'm into it and I'm healthy and my priorities can fit around that.
I really am a thinker. I don't do things rash. I know some of the things I've said or the way I act seem rash. But I do take ownership of it. I don't say things I don't mean.
There's so many guys skiing so fast right now that you really have to be willing to take a lot of risks if you want to give yourself a chance to win. I'm prepared to do it; it's just a matter of if I can make it work.
I'm still having fun and as long as skiing is enjoyable, I'm going to continue to do it.
From 1999 to 2003 was the peak of equipment in ski racing. Since then, it's all gone in the wrong direction.
Eventually I'd like to have a family. I'd like to not be limping around when I'm 50 years old.
I've been exploring different options for when I'm done skiing. I have the Turtle Ridge Foundation, which is helping a bunch of worthy causes around the Northeast. I've also started SkiSpace, which is an online social network that basically deals with all things based around any snow sport.
I went through a period at boarding school when my coaches wanted me to switch to snowboarding because they thought I was no good at skiing. I was too skinny. I had terrible technique. They were saying I should be a snowboarder, and luckily, I resisted.
I had crashes when I was small and Gumby-like that would have killed me now. I would just fly off jumps and go 40 or 50 meters when I was 6 years old - break skis, smash my goggles and get a bloody nose and go crawl inside for a little while and then come back out and ski more in the afternoon.
Obviously, you always want to win, but you want to win by skiing a race that you're proud of and you feel like you really challenged yourself and left it all out there.
People think coming in under the radar is like being a fighter pilot and actually coming in under the radar. It's a completely ridiculous idea to come in under the radar. It's the Olympics; everyone is on the radar here.
You feel the Olympics and you get chills and nervous and a little scared. You go through the emotional roller coaster at what it's like to compete at the Olympic level and you let that run through your whole body.
One of the really important things about the Olympics is, to enjoy yourself, you have to accept that it's different and feed off the enthusiasm of everyone and the inspiration and hopefully that will elevate your performance.
People want athletes to cater to their image of what an athlete should be, but they also want them to fail so they can feel like their screwups are all right. If I make a priority shift, I'll make it because it's best for me.
It does matter that it's the Olympics. I just did it my way. I'm not a martyr, and I'm not a do-gooder. I just want to go out and rock. And man, I rocked here.
The same people who recognize I came out with no medals should recognize I could have won three.
It's important for me to live my life honestly.
I simply think things through, and I look at problems. One thing I pride myself on is the ability to connect unconnected thoughts and come up with new, unique thoughts.
We should tell our kids to just have fun, participate and not get bent on winning or losing. But every coach, when they say that, they say it tongue in cheek, 'Don't worry about winning': If you win I'll get you ice cream, but if you lose I'm going to pout in the car.
I had to think about ankle torsion, where the screws are on the ski, how that affects the forces going into the ski and how the ski bends, your leverage points. It was a challenge. I was having the greatest time, making the mistakes, crashing.
My team has been very unreceptive about the fact that I consistently show them that I train slightly differently than they do, that I consistently show them that I am in better shape for ski racing than anyone else on the team.
I like to keep my private life private for the most part.
My sister has three kids so I've spent a lot of time around children and I've always really liked them and wanted my own. It's cool because you think all babies are the same but they aren't at all. They all have such different personalities. It's crazy.
When you get old, it's hard to tell what's memory and what you've kind of created in your head as memory, you know?
My mom played the recorder. But not having electricity, we had minimal exposure to music. As I got a little older, we had Walkmans and things that were battery-powered, but it would have been nice to be growing up in the iPod era. A tape only has six songs on a side.
It's nice, being brought up with no money at all. It's just not how I measure success, so that makes it a bunch easier.
One kid's old, used-up equipment is another kid's brand-new, awesome, awesome equipment.
I tried retiring a couple of times and it just didn't really stick so, but at some point enough things conspire together and it does stick.Collection: Couple
Join the bold, the brazen, the unintimidated. Join not having excuses. Join the idea that fun is the source of all joy. Join the unwillingness to give up. Join doing things your way. Join not joining. Join that purpose is stronger than outcome. Join your gut. Join the constant challenge of seeking greatness. Join play. Join the hunger to find what makes you happy. Join karma and nature and the effect you have on your world. Join your philosophy. Join something bigger than you. Join what you believe.Collection: Karma
It is not that I don't recognize the danger in ski racing, but that I don't fear the consequences.Collection: Racing
The best way to protect your own freedom is to watch everybody else's back. That's the essence of community.Collection: Essence
Sometimes I'm disciplined, but I like to be a total slacker, too. I party hard, but I train hard.Collection: Party
I've been myself my whole life.Collection: Whole Life
Ski racers are built odd with overbuilt butts and legs.Collection: Legs
If I could wish one thing for anyone, it would be to not have to do anything his entire life-just go along and when you feel like doing something, do it.Collection: Wish
Some people say I make mistakes. I just say that this is the secret of enjoying life. I hate monotony. Why don't they leave me freedom of choice? People want to impose choices which aren't necessarily mine. That's the mistake people make.Collection: Hate