Miller is a five-time Olympic medalist, with his sole gold medal coming in 2010 in the super combined competition. Along with gold, he also achieved a silver medal in the Super-G competition and a bronze medal in downhill skiing at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Miller’s other two medals are both silver, which he won at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Like Tiger Woods and golf, Miller began skiing at the age of three years old. It was as if his destiny was to become a professional skier, something that he has clearly excelled at throughout his life. He began competing at 11 years old, and his first podium finish as a professional skier occurred in 2000.
Miller had an interesting childhood, as he was homeschooled until the third grade. Even crazier, he grew up on 500 acres of land in which his family lived in a log cabin that didn’t contain electricity or indoor plumbing. It’s no wonder he became a professional skier with all of that land in the mountains of New Hampshire.
When a kid grows up surrounded by a sport there’s a good chance they will fall in love with it. Miller played tennis throughout his childhood and even worked as a counselor at a tennis camp. In fact, his grandparents founded and operated Tamarack Tennis Camp in Easton, N.H., which is where he worked. He also competed in the 2010 U.S. Open, although he lost his first match in the Open qualifying tournament.
Along with tennis and soccer, Miller also enjoys baseball. In 2006, he signed a one-day contract with the Nashua Pride baseball team in the Canadian-American League. Even though he failed to record a hit at the plate (he went 0-for-2), he did manage to make a spectacular catch in left field. The epic grab made all of the highlight reels and was famously played on ESPN’s SportsCenter numerous times. For Miller’s services with the team, they donated $5,000 to his Turtle Ridge Foundation. In 2007, he signed the same deal with the same team in order to raise money for his charity.
Miller married professional volleyball player and model Morgan Beck in October of 2012. Although he knew she was the one the moment he laid eyes on her, it certainly took some convincing for her to think the same about him. In fact, she initially resisted to go out with him. Obviously, Miller convinced her that the two of them belonged together. He was so sure of it that he actually bought her an engagement ring just six weeks after meeting her.
In 2005, the documentary Flying Downhill was made to capture Miller’s philosophy about skiing and his desire to become the world’s best. It’s no secret that he has his own style, which is vastly different from his European competitors. But it’s how he incorporates that style and intense speed into competition that makes him enjoyable to watch. The film documents his how he became the person that he is as well as where skiing could take him in the future.
In a sport that was mostly dominated by Europeans for a long time, Miller naturally fit the role of the American bad boy. Whether it was partying at the Playboy mansion with playmates and models or being in the midst of a public custody battle for his son, Miller has certainly seen his fair share of bad exposure. Even though he has reformed his ways in recent years, he will always be known as the bad boy of the sport.
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