Bode Miller calls the season after knee surgery

Bode Miller is done for the season.

A seemingly minor knee injury is causing discomfort and a limited range of motion so the 34 year old Miller has elected to shut down the season, have additional arthoscopic surgery and return to race next season.

“I love ski racing and I love being active,” Miller said, “so I hope for a solid recovery and to get back to training as soon as possible. I’m still having fun and as long as skiing is enjoyable, I’m going to continue to do it.”

Miller injured his left knee in the downhill at Sochi where he flew off one of four major jumps on the 2014 Olympic course. Despite the injury he finished fourth, just two hundredths from making the podium.

He attempted to race the following weekend at Bansko, Bulgaria, realized he needed further attention and returned to the US for evaluation and eventual arthoscopic surgery. He then returned to Europe to continue the World Cup tour.

“The plan was to come back and race in Crans Montana, but I couldn’t get the range of motion that I needed out of my knee to be competitive. We thought if I rested a few more days things would come around, but it didn’t happen,” Miller said.

“Even though he’s been extremely motivated to continue out the season and show what he can do by having fun with ski racing, his body just wasn’t able to hold that,” said US Coach Sasha Rearick. “He’s doing the right thing by getting his knee fixed and ready to go for the future.”

Further evaluation and another likely arthoscope to clean up the knee is planned.

Miller said he was pleased with the season he was able to put in and was looking forward to additional tests on the World Cup’s fields of play. “It was a good season for me. Winning again at Beaver Creek was pretty special and it was cool to get a chance to check out the Olympic hill in Sochi (Russia). The mountain is world class. It’s as nice as any of the places we ever go and I think it’s going to be an amazing host for the Olympics.”

“Bode makes an incredible contribution to the ski racing community at large,” said Rearick. “He has fans all over the world and people come to ski races just to see Bode. The fans had high hopes to see him race at Crans Montana and Bode wanted to compete for the fans. He inspires people from all countries and ages to get fired up for our sport and he wants to continue to do what he loves.”