Bode Miller is a famed elite skier who has participated in various skiing competitions globally – from the Olympics to the World Cup as well as the World Alpine Ski Championships. In the process, he has set astounding records – he has one gold medal from the Olympics and four from the World Championship. Miller has also made history by emerging victorious in 33 racing competitions as well as winning silver and bronze medals from other competitions.
More so, the skier is known as the only one to have six discipline titles in the World Cup events and after his first professional appearance in a World Cup event in 1997, he has gone on to win the World Cup championship twice throughout his career. Following these remarkable records, Bode Miller is one of the most successful male alpine skiers of all time.
Bode Miller Began To Feature In Skiing Competitions As An 18-Year-Old
Miller’s foray into skiing began when he got a scholarship to Carrabassett Valley Academy, the school is known for their ski racing program and with his enrollment, Bode Miller’s life changed. In 1996, he became a known face in the world of skiing when as an 18-year-old he participated in local skiing competitions and two years later in 1998, he had made his way to the major leagues. He appeared at the 1998 World Cup and represented his country in the 1998 Olympics that were held in Nagano, Japan. For the Olympics, he was in the giant slalom and slalom disciplines, which are very technical levels of skiing.
The following year saw Bode Miller represent the United States in the World Ski Championships where he finished in the 8th position. His hard work eventually paid off when he won a major award for his skiing in 2000 at Val d’lsere. However, in 2001 he had an injury that hurt his chances of replicating what he had done in the previous year.
He Set A Record Of Winning At Least One Race In Each World Cup Discipline In 2005
Two years into his professional career, Bode Miller gained public recognition for his performance at the Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City where he took home two silver medals in the Slalom races that were held in January of 2002. Prior to this, he had clinched his first World Cup win a month earlier in December 2001. This double feat made him the number one racer in the U.S. Ski Team. That year saw him win his first Olympic medal on the 13th of February.
The successes he enjoyed in 2002 paved the path for him to attempt to win the overall title in the 2003 World Cup, but he only came second. At the World Championship of that year, he was able to win 3 medals-a gold medal in the giant slalom discipline and the combined segment as well as a silver in the Super G discipline. He would eventually win the Overall World Cup title in 2005 and in the process set the record of winning one race in all the World Cup disciplines.
On December 13, 2013, Bode Miller consolidated himself in the world of the greats when he won a Slalom in Sestriere, a feat that had only been achieved by one other person. He continued to participate in the Olympics up until 2014 and ended up becoming one of the most illustrious skiers in the history of the Winter Olympics and the sports in general.
The Terms Of His Retirement Was Controversial
Bode Miller has represented his country in several competitions, but in 2015, he announced that he had to take a break from the game and focus on recovering from an injury he had suffered in 2014. He did make an attempt to return to the game in that year’s season but during a Super G race he was cut by a gate and his hamstring was severed in the crash. This led to a downward spiral and inability to participate in the sport as effectively as he used to.
Miller terminated his deal with HEAD, and made a deal with the management group not to participate in any competition with other brands for two years. However, he failed to abide by the terms of the agreement as he moved on to seal a deal with another brand, Bomber Ski, where he was made a part-owner.
In an attempt to compete in 2016, HEAD thwarted his efforts on the basis of their agreement. As a result of the dispute, Bode Miller professionally ended his alpine skiing career in October 2017. As at that time, the Olympian had been able to amass a net worth of $8 million.
What Has Bode Miller Been Up To?
After his skiing career came to an end in 2017 after 19 years, Miller is known to have tried his hands on a couple of things. He initially started by giving himself a fresh start by moving to Motana with his family where he became an ambassador for Big Sky Resort. Miller would go on to initiate a ski program for ski novices and this attracted a lot of tourists to the area. He would also collaborate with the likes of Moonlight Basin and Spanish Peaks Mountain.
Aside from being an athlete, Miller has also endorsed other programs that continue to keep him quite busy. He has self-named video games for phones, Windows, and PlayStation 2. He has also written his memoir, ‘Bode: Go Fast, Be Good, Have Fun’, in conjunction with Jack McEnanay. More so, he inspired the 2006 movie, Flying Downhill which was based on his life story, and the recent 2019 documentary, Forces Of Nature directed by Todd Jones.
Bode is also an avid philanthropist who in order to raise funds for charity purposes established the Miller’s Turtle Ridge Foundation, and in 2019, his foundation supported the Safe Route program. As of now, it is known that he works as an on-air analyst for NBC, where he analyses ski events.
Bode Miller Is Married To A Fellow Athlete
Bode Miller is married to the professional Volleyball player and model, Morgan Beck. The two of them had met sometime in May 2012 at one of her games and Beck had persistently rebuffed Miller’s efforts until he told her that she was his soulmate. The two started to date and a month after Miller had gotten an engagement ring for her.
The lovestruck duo is also known to have exchanged marital vows in the same year they met. The low keyed wedding ceremony took place on October 7th, 2012 and it had in attendance, the officiating priest, a photographer, and their cat.
Like her husband, Beck is notable for her avid love for sports and she embarked on building a career as a volleyball player back in her high school days at San Clemente High School in California. During her days there she recorded very impressive stats which include making 544 kills in a season, 39 kills in a match, 11 service aces per match as well as .497 hitting percentage. These outstanding stats got her the title, Mizuno High School All-American.
Bode’s wife also had a very exciting college career and she is notable for playing both outside and middle hitter back at the University of California in Berkeley. In her freshman year, Beck’s unique playing skills got her a spot on the PAC-10 All-Freshman team. She helped her school’s team popularly known as the California Bears to make it to the semifinals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as well as making their first appearance at the NCAA semifinals in 2007.
Upon the completion of her college education, Morgan Beck kick-started her professional volleyball career playing for AVP Pro, the AVP Young Guns, and the United States Women’s National Volleyball Team. More so, the vibrant sportswoman is known to have expanded her endeavors into modeling and in 2010 she appeared in an ad campaign for Nike. Two years later in 2012, Complex Magazin named her as “One of the 25 Hottest Athletes on the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team”.
Tragedy Stuck His Family In 2018
Three years into their relationship, after many attempts at having a child including a miscarriage that Morgan suffered in 2013, the pair welcomed a son, Edward Nash Skan Miller who was born in May 2015 in the comfort of their home. The next year, their daughter, Emeline Grier arrived in the family and her birth also took place in the couple’s home on November 5th, 2016. To announce her arrival the celebrity shared a nude snapshot which they shared on Instagram.
In April of 2018, the pair announced the arrival of yet another child but two months after that announcement, their daughter Emeline died by drowning in a neighbor’s swimming pool. It is unclear how long she was in the water, however, paramedics rushed to the scene and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation before transporting her to a hospital but it was futile as she passed on that very day.
Miller said he spent time after his daughter’s death questioning what he could have done differently, and then he sharpened his focus on his other children. Drawing from his childhood in Franconia, N.H., he concluded they needed to move closer to nature and live in a small community to bond as a family and instill values like independence, self-reliance, and grit.
By the end of that year, Easton Vaughn Rek Miller was born in October 2018 and the next year, the Millers welcomed a pair of twins into the family, Asher, and Aksel who was born in November 2019.
Bode Miller Has Been Entangled In A Paternity Suit In The Past
Apart from his three lovely kids with his wife, Bode Miller has other children with two different ladies and this was how he landed into paternity lawsuits. His first child was born in 2008 when his then-girlfriend Chanel Johnson gave birth to their daughter, Neesyn Dace on February 19th, 2008. However, things went south between the pair shortly after Dace’s birth, and when they eventually broke up, Miller filed for joint legal and physical custody of the child which did not create any hassles for the skier.
In 2013, his girlfriend, Sara McKenna also bore him another child, a son named, Samuel who is fondly called ‘Nate’ by the family. Bode had allegedly met McKenna on a dating site and the two hit it off instantly but they broke up when she found out about the pregnancy. By the time she gave birth in February of 2013, Miller had already filed for joint custody but because the papers were delivered to her San Diego apartment where she no longer lived and could not respond the case reverted to giving Miller full custody. For most of that year, Bode was with their son until she petitioned that they have joint custody and in November 2013, her son was returned to her.
