Monday, February 22, 2010

Olympics: Living it up on the slopes

THE 2010 Winter Olympics have brought very different results for two New England natives: Bode Miller of Franconia, N.H., and Lindsey Jacobellis of Stratton, Vermont. Sunday in Vancouver was Miller time, when a breathtaking slalom run won Miller the gold in the men’s super combined, adding that medal to his super G silver and his downhill bronze.

While redemption is a cliché of sports narratives, Miller’s performance did show an athlete who has matured markedly since the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. There, his party-boy attitude and blasé platitudes proved profoundly off-putting. In Vancouver, Miller understood the Olympics matter - and not just to millions of spectators worldwide, but to himself as well. With his performance, Miller, 32, has finally lived up to his Olympic promise.

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