Saturday, February 8, 2014

Set your alarm 4hr Do you really want to sleep through Bode’s resurgence? By CHRIS KORMAN

 Bode Miller during men's alpine training for the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games at Rosa Khutor Alpine Center. (Paul Bussi-USA TODAY Sports)

Alpine skiing: Men’s downhill (2 a.m. EST)

Bode Miller will wear bib No. 15. So maybe you don’t need to tune in right away. (And really, maybe it makes more sense to just not go to sleep.) But you do want to see this, because the 36-year-old Miller is clearly the one to watch. From USA TODAY Sports’ David Leon Moore:

How good a skier is Bode Miller?

So good that, of all the skiers in all the skiing nations in all the years of World Cup racing, Miller is the only one to have won five races in all five alpine events — downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and super-combined.

So good that, at age 36, the New Hampshire native is skiing seemingly as fast as ever and nobody is saying that his advanced age is a disadvantage.

So good that, even though he hasn’t won a World Cup race in more than two years, he has become the overwhelming favorite to add an Olympic downhill title to his five previous Olympic medals.

Of course, in USA TODAY’s official medal projections, Bode finishes second to Aksel Lund Svindal.

Those were made before Miller’s practice runs, during which he has been the best — and most focused — skiier on the course.

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