The Untold Truth Of Bode Miller
Bode Miller "is the most successful male American alpine skier of all time," according to CBS Sports. Throughout his career, Miller achieved the impossible: He won six Olympic medals, four world championships, and 33 World Cups, per Associated Press. In 2015, Miller crashed on the super-G course at the Alpine world ski championships in Beaver Creek, Colo., which required him to get surgery on his right hamstring tendon, The New York Times reported. Ultimately, his career was over, and he hung up his ski gear for good in 2017.
Miller didn't quite end his profession on a high note, so it's safe to say that he doesn't exactly miss the thrill of being on the slopes. "I'm pretty glad to have it behind me, honestly," he told Associated Press in 2019. "I feel like it was a great phase, but I'm definitely past it and don't really have any desire to do it again or look back on it."
Although the former athlete — who has six kids, including daughter Neesyn and sons Nash, Easton, Asher, Aksel, and Nate — has been praised for his athletic ability, he has dealt with his fair share of tragedy in his personal life. Keep reading to find out the untold truth of Miller.
Bode Miller lost two important people in his life
Even though Bode Miller is arguably one of the greatest skiers of all time, the New Hampshire native didn't always have it so easy when it came to his personal life. In 2013, Miller lost his brother, Chelone "Chilly" Miller after he died of an apparent seizure, per People. Chelone — who was only 29 years old when he passed away — had been hoping to show off his snowboarding skills at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
"It's more just a tragedy," Miller, who competed at the 2014 Olympics, told Access Hollywood (via People) about his late brother. "I can use it and turn it in some way for inspiration because, like you said, he had wanted to go to the Olympics and he's just my little brother — I had seen him compete his whole life."
In June 2018, tragedy struck again. Miller's daughter Emeline Grier Miller, whom he shares with wife Morgan Beck, died after she drowned in a pool at just 19 months old. "We are beyond devastated. Our baby girl, Emmy, passed away yesterday," he wrote on Instagram. "Never in a million years did we think we would experience a pain like this. Her love, her light, her spirit will never be forgotten. Our little girl loved life and lived it to its fullest everyday."
Miller told Forbes in 2019 that "nothing is worse than losing a child." He added, "I hope there's nothing worse, because if there is, it'll break you."
Bode Miller helped deliver his twin boys
After Bode Miller and his wife, Morgan Beck, lost their daughter, Emeline, in a drowning accident in 2018, the parents revealed they were expanding their family in August 2019. Two months later, Beck gave birth to twin boys Asher and Aksel. "I'm doing really well. We're still floating from the whole experience," Beck told the Today show. "It was just so amazing to have it go as spontaneous but as well as it did."
So spontaneous, in fact, that Miller had to help deliver the babies himself! "Luckily, my mom was a midwife, but she hadn't delivered babies in 20-plus years, and she never delivered twins," he explained, since the midwives didn't arrive when they were supposed to. "We were both pretty relaxed and pretty casual, but we were certainly not qualified to be doing an unassisted home delivery of twins!"
Miller and Beck, who are also parents to sons Easton and Nash, admitted they still "deal" with their daughter's death "every day." "It's like there's this undercurrent of loss that's just never gonna go away," Miller told Today.
Despite the hard times, Beck is grateful for the two new additions to their family. "When you go through tragedy, you realize how precious those things are," she said. "We're in a beautiful place, in a beautiful home surrounded by so many amazing people. Our kids are happy. Our kids are healthy. We still love each other. You can't ask for more."
Bode Miller's whirlwind romance with Morgan Beck
Bode Miller and his wife, Morgan Beck, are happily married, but their relationship wasn't always smooth sailing. According to USA Today, the pair shared the same agent and met while Beck was playing in a volleyball tournament in Florida. "I wasn't really in any position to be looking for anything special anyway, but I decided to go to the volleyball match. I called [Morgan] and asked her, and she said, 'No, I don't want you to come,' which I thought was a little bit indicative of the way she is," Miller told Graham Bensinger in a 2017 interview.
"I was like, 'Well, I'm sorry, you don't get to decide, so I am going to come to the volleyball match,'" he continued. "I went and watched her play. I knew that she was going to be the person I was going to marry. I got to know her much more through that experience of watching her play a sport that she loved and hated at the same time, because she both loves and hates volleyball, she will tell you that."
Miller then took Beck to a jewelry store a month and a half after their first meeting. He recalled, "She said, 'I wouldn't marry you if you ask me.' I said, 'That's fine. No problem.'" Luckily, Beck changed her tune and came around. "She wanted to sort of force me to ask her, so it made it really easy on me," Miller said about the proposal.
Bode Miller's newest venture is 'going very well'
Bode Miller is a successful athlete who had a long-lasting career, but after retiring from skiing in 2017, the former Olympian decided to venture into uncharted territory: business. Miller co-owns Aztech Mountain — "a performance sportswear company rooted in skiing," their official website reads — in addition to being the company's investor and Chief Innovation Officer.
"It's a hard business," Miller told ISPO.com in 2018. "We have a lot to do. But it's going very well." Even though the New Hampshire native is no longer kicking butt on the slopes, he is instead calling the shots in a different way. "It's great fun controlling the fate of a dynamic, innovative company," he added.
Surprisingly, the Olympic champion noted that "sport was harder" for him. "This business is a lot of fun for me and at least there's no torment, as there often has to be in competitive sports," he explained. "And it's a very creative process. We can move really quickly."
Of course, the million dollar question is: Does Miller miss competing in the sports world? "I enjoyed being a professional racer," he admitted. "But in all honesty, I don't miss the racing. Not a minute."
Clearly, Miller has moved on to bigger and better things, and we can't wait to see what he does next.