MANILA, Philippines — Fil-Am alpine skier Asa Miller vowed to bounce back strong after a disappointing performance in the giant slalom last Sunday at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Miller, 21, had a DNF (did not finish) in his first of two events and admitted he lost focus in the race amid harsh conditions due to the sudden snowfall and nearly zero visibility on the Ice River track.
“I just have to stick to my plan for the next race,” said Miller, whose campaign is fully supported by the Philippine Sports Commission chaired by William Ramirez.
Miller, however, did not use the treacherous conditions and the weather as an excuse, which resulted to 32 of the 84 participants getting DNFs.
“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, Miller’s coach, said Miller made a mistake by skiing not to finish “but to run” and go for a strong result.
To get back his focus, Miller took a break 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.
“I’m pretty bummed about that (DNF), but I went out skiing my hardest,” said Miller.