Bode Miller is the sort of man whose legend and lore precede him. In fact, since he came into the public, mainstream eye a little over a decade ago, he is better known for his reckless, all-or-nothing style than, well, anything else. Sure his backwoods upbringing and life has featured in a couple nightly news segments, but there is not much more known about the World Cup alpine skier.
But today, we see him as so much more than a quirky super-G speed freak. On Thursday, at the World Championships in Beaver Creek, Colorado, Miller tore through a brutal crash coming around the final gate.
According to NBC Sports, before he crashed, he was “.28 of a second faster than the second-fastest skier at the second intermediate split time, about 40 seconds into the 76-second race.”
The tragic turn was only beginning though: as a result of the fall, Miller suffered a rather horrifying injury that sent him to the hospital. And don’t let us undersell it, this was a horrifying injury…
And while onlookers gasped in horror, the look on his daughter’s face might have been the hardest to take.
But this is where it gets good. Nearby spectators tell us that rather than tending to his leg and going immediately to see whatever doctors were there, he went over to his family, including his daughter, and assured them that he was going to be okay. That’s an uplifting display of family if I’ve ever seen one.
Fortunately, for fans and that daughter of his, he returned the next day with good news, taking to Twitter to share it.
Out of a successful surgery for a severed hamstring tendon. Feeling lucky since things could have been way worse. pic.twitter.com/1jKhhDSRR9
— Bode Miller (@MillerBode) February 6, 2015
Now the question looms: is it time to hang up his competitive boots? It seems he, himself, is undecided. The six-time Olympic medalist was trying to become the second-oldest World Championships medalist, racing for the first time in 11 months, and the first time after back surgery last November. Two months isn’t too bad of a recovery time (though it will take him out of much of the rest of the season), but he is also 37 years old. At what point to you take set backs for what they’re worth and spend the rest of your days ripping pow? The one thing we know for certain about Bode Miller is that he’ll make his own decision, on his own time.
Until then, our thoughts and well wishes go to him and his family, especially that adorable daughter of his.
