Bode Miller to take at least 1 year off ski racing

American ski racing superstar Bode Miller reportedly told Bloodhorse.com in a July 21 interview that while he is not ready to announce his retirement from the sport, he will not compete in the 2015-16 FIS Alpine World Cup season.

Miller told Frank Angst of Blood-Horse that he has purchased a barn at Fair Hill Training Center in Elkton, Md., where he plans to apply a new approach to training Thoroughbreds, with remodeling work on the barn slated for this fall. He will sit out the 2015-16 competitive ski racing season but has not ruled out returning to the sport beyond that.

It has been no secret that Miller, a friend and business partner of acclaimed Triple Crown-winning trainer Bob Baffert, has aspirations in the horse racing industry. Eurosport even filmed a documentary entitled “Quest for the Future” about Miller’s post-competition plans and interest in horse racing endeavors that first aired in October 2014.

The six-time Olympic and five-time World Championship medalist suffered a torn hamstring tendon requiring surgery following a February crash in the super G at the 2015 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Beaver Creek, Colo. He and wife Morgan Beck Miller welcomed their first child together (and Miller’s third) in May, a son named Nash Skan.

Miller joins Slovenian ski racing star Tina Maze in sitting out the upcoming FIS season with plans to potentially return to the circuit at a time yet to be determined.