FIL-AM alpine skier Asa Miller vowed to bounce back strong after a disappointing performance in the giant slalom on Sunday in the Beijing Winter Olympics at the Ice River.
Mr. Miller, 21, had a DNF (did not finish) in his first of two events and admitted he lost focus in the race that had harsh conditions due to the sudden snowfall and nearly zero visibility in the track.
“I just have to stick to my plan for the next race,” said Mr. Miller, whose campaign is fully supported by the Philippine Sports Commission chaired by William Ramirez.
Mr. Miller, however, did not use the treacherous conditions and the weather as an excuse, which resulted to 32 of the 84 participants getting DNFs including himself.
“I’d kind of lost my focus when I got into the gate for so long waiting, and forgot what I want to think about, so I need to make sure to stick to my plan for slalom on Wednesday,” said the Oregon native.
Will Gregorak, Mr. Miller’s coach, said Mr. Miller made a mistake by skiing not to finish “but to run” and go for a strong result.
To get back his focus, Mr. Miller took a break on Monday and watched the medal ceremony wherein Swiss Marco Odermatt, Slovenian Zan Kranjec and French Mathieu Faivre received their gold, silver and bronze, respectively, and the other events with his dad, Kelly Miller.
“I’m pretty bummed about that [DNF], but I went out skiing my hardest and I went fast,” said Mr. Miller. “Ski racing is a hard sport. A lot of the best skiers struggled yesterday [Sunday], and a lot of people didn’t finish so I’m happy that I put my best out there and laid it on the line.”
He will be back to training today, or on the eve of his final event — giant slalom.
“I’m looking forward to the slalom and I know I will put my best out there again and hopefully things align and we get a nice result,” he said. — Joey Villar
