Bode Miller Returns To FIS Alpine Ski World Cup

After missing majority of the season, Bode Miller returned for the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in today’s Men’s downhill training in Wengen, Switzerland. Miller missed a majority of the world cup season after he underwent a microdiscectomy surgery for his injured back: an injury lingering from a crash in last season’s World Cup Finals.

As for the results, Miller took it easy, placing 27th in the downhill training run: a reported 3.09 seconds behind today’s leader, Matthias Mayer, who finished with a reported runtime of 2:36:52.

Bode commented on today’s results and was surprisingly optimistic: “It felt bad but that’s what I was expecting as this is a tough race to come to as your first race of the season… I was taking it easy today to feel my back out and overall I am really happy as it felt ok. The movement felt ok, the fitness was more of a problem but I know that even in my best shape I suffered pretty bad on this hill so this is not a surprise.”

For those who do not know, Bode Miller is one of the greatest American skiers to have ever graced the slopes: he currently sits on top with the most wins from an American male. He has achieved one gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver games along with three silvers and two bronzes throughout his career. He has also won four world championships and has placed second once.

On top of this, he has won two overall World Cup titles in 2005 and 2008, has victories in 33 cup races and is only one of five men to win events in all disciplines. Short term or long term, to see him back on the slopes is a great day for American skiing and the sport in general.

As for the rest of the Wengen schedule, it is up in the air: they are going to judge the weather before setting a date for the race.