Bode Miller Quotes

Bode Miller presents gritty, motivational talk about sports, competition, and success for readers chasing personal triumph.

27 quotes

1. It is other people who want me to win medals.

2. The silver medals I won in Salt Lake City didn't give me anything. Last year I set myself the goal of winning the World Cup and lining up a long series of wins. It was my private challenge.

3. This year I just want to enjoy myself. I could give up tomorrow without having the slightest regret. I could keep away from this world for a year and then perhaps start to feel the desire to prove something to myself again.

4. Fame is almost a poison. I couldn't care less, in fact I lived better when I was a nobody.

5. Some people say I make mistakes, I just say that in fact 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.

6. Sport is born clean and it would stay that way if it was the athletes who ran it for the pleasure of taking part, but then the fans and the media intervene and finish up by corrupting it with the pressure that they exercise.

7. Anyone who isn't strong is left in a corner, no one asks for their autograph, they are abandoned in the cold shadows. Those who win, however, become icons.

8. From this inhuman pressure doping is born because the athlete feels the imperative of having to be No. 1. I believe instead that sport should be a private pressure, a challenge for yourself.

9. You basically have to trick yourself into incredible intensity to do this stuff, and I do a good job of pretending that I'm racing to save my mom from getting killed or my sister from being raped-some horrible thing that causes me to dig deep, like old-school 'Braveheart' s---. If you come into battle with that in your head, you're gonna be a different person than if you think you're just going out for a little swordfight. But when you do that for 10 years straight, it wears your a-- out. It's like crying wolf to yourself a million times. And at some point, you start to say, 'Why am I doing this?'

10. For me the ideal Olympics would be to go in with all that pressure, all that attention and have performances that are literally tear-jerking, that make people put their heads down because they're embarrassed at how emotional they're getting, that make people want to try sports, talk to their kids, call their f---ing ex-wives-and come away with no medals. I think that would be epic. That would be the perfect thing.

11. 47. I need 47 energy.

12. It's not quite as important who you beat as that you end up on top.

13. My goal is the same as every year - to not hurt myself.

14. Records are less important for me than what if feel when I come down the mountain.

15. When you back off, it's easier to do mistakes. For me it's better to ski fast.

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. At the end of the day, you have to make sure you're at least listening to what your head is telling you, what your heart is telling you. That's hard to do when there are a million other people shouting as loud as they can.

22. At this point in my career, I have the privilege of choosing my partners. In the beginning, you more or less take what comes in the door - or what matches up with your brand. But you're always subject to what's available, especially in the ski world where there are not infinite choices, especially on the fashion side.

23. There's been times when I've been in really tough shape at the top of the course. Talk about a hard challenge right there. I mean, if you ever tried to ski when you're wasted, it's not easy. Try and ski a slalom when … you hit a gate less than every one a second, so it's risky, you know. You're putting your life at risk there. It's like driving drunk only there's no rules about it in ski racing.

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. I couldn't be happier with where my life's at right now. I have great partners, I have great stimulating relationships on the business side of things, I've been really busy and productive.

27. I'm still having fun and as long as skiing is enjoyable, I'm going to continue to do it.