Alpine Skiing

Bode Miller announced today that he will rejoin the U.S. Ski Team for the 2009-2010 World Cup alpine ski season.

"I am excited to be back with the guys and the Team. We've had great success together," said Miller. "I look forward to taking advantage of the great program we have in place." 

Miller was joined in the announcement by Sasha Rearick, men's U.S. Ski Team head coach.

"We worked together years and years ago," said Miller. "We had a strong belief system, talking about the inspiration aspect of the sport... From there it didn't take a lot of encouragement."

"Bode is committed to the team and the team looks forward to helping Bode achieve personal greatness," said Rearick. "Because Bode is such a great competitor he's going to challenge everyone on the Team to push their personal limits and strive for greater performances."

Miller has started an intensive training regime to get into competition form, and will sit out the first World Cup event, in Solden, Austria. Rearick indicated that Miller would likely return to competition at Levi, Finland. 

Miller has raced on the alpine skiing World Cup circuit, initially with the U.S. Ski team, then independently under the name Team America after clashing with officials from the U.S. Ski Team. Miller was criticized for partying too much at the Turin Olympics.

"Right now, we're mostly looking forward," said Miller. "My actions will carry a lot more weight [than an appology]."

In order to qualify for the 2010 Olympic Games, skiers are assessed based on World Cup performance. With a strong performance at upcoming World Cup events, Miller could potentially qualify for competition spots in all five disciplines at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

"[The Olympics] wasn't a huge motivation in this, so much has to happen between now and then," said Miller, who has said his priority is to get back to ski racing. 

Miller has failed to earn an Olympic gold medal, earning two silver medals at the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Games, but failing to finish on the podium at the Turin 2006 Olympic Games.

Miller won two overall World Cup titles most recently in the 2007-2008 season. In 2008-2009 Miller had a difficult season, only finishing on the podium three times, and failing to score a single win and ending the season early.