If Bode Miller wants to return to ski racing this season as he approaches the age of 40, he is going to have to show US team coach Sasha Rearick that he has still got the necessary speed.
“There’s always a chance with Bode, always, but at this point right now we’re not expecting a miracle return real quick,” Rearick told reporters on Friday.
Still, Rearick would not rule out a return by Miller this season, saying the six-time Olympic medalist could “possibly” race next month.
Photo: AP
Miller has won 33 World Cup races, but he has never won the famed Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbuehel, Austria, which is scheduled for Jan. 21.
Also on Friday, a judge dismissed a lawsuit Miller had filed against ski manufacturer and his former sponsor Head.
Miller ended his nearly 10-year partnership with Head last year and signed an agreement not to use other skis in World Cup or world championship races for two years. He was attempting to get out of the remainder of the deal so that he could race on skis by New York-based Bomber, which he helped develop.
It was not clear what effect the dismissal might have on Miller’s return.
While he has not raced since severing his right hamstring tendon in February last year, Miller might be tempted to return in time for Kitzbuehel. That could enable him to qualify for the world championships in St Moritz, Switzerland, in February.
The US team can start only four skiers in each race at the worlds.
“He’s going to have to qualify for the world championships,” Rearick said. “He would have to show me he’s ready to play or qualify straight up by criteria.”
The 39-year-old Miller did not show much speed during training at Copper Mountain in Colorado last month, trailing several teammates.
“He was not in the mix in those four-five guys, and we were ahead of the Norwegians there,” Rearick said.
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