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Bode Miller feels his age, knee a liability

Bode Miller

Bode Miller watches the video board after finishing his run during the men’s World Cup downhill skiing event, Friday, Dec. 6, 2013, in Beaver Creek, Colo. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

AP

Bode Miller has raced 12 times over seven World Cup stops this season. How’s he holding up?

“I’m healthy enough that I’m skiing as hard as I can, but I definitely feel my age,” Miller said on TODAY from Oberjoch, Germany, on Thursday. “I’m trying to catch up to the young kids.”

Miller is set to compete in his fifth Olympics at age 36. He’s a five-time Olympic medalist, including one of every color in 2010, but the expectations are different for Sochi after missing all of last season following knee surgery.

“Everyone kind of knows anything outside of the medals is not really why you’re going there,” Miller said. “I think it is the performances I’m looking for. ... Four years older, fifth Olympics, my knee is a liability, probably a lot of things I’m dealing with right now are liabilities.”

Miller’s custody battle with the mother of his 10-month-old boy, Sam, has been a distraction.

“I have some experience with the media,” he said. “The real difficult part is any time it’s family or things that are really personal.”

Before the season, Miller coped with the death of brother Chelone, 29, to an apparent seizure stemming from his traumatic brain injury suffered in a 2005 motorcycle accident.

“It was a shock,” Miller said. “For something like that to happen, it really knocked us all on our asses pretty hard.”

But he’s gained from the presence of his wife, beach volleyball player Morgan Beck, who has joined him on the World Cup tour for the first time after they were married in 2012.

“Morgan is a great woman, and she’s been able to travel around me a lot,” Miller said. “Being able to share the experiences of moving around the world and seeing all these great spots and training, that’s the pleasure.”

Miller, with one podium finish this season, is expected to race in Adelbolden, Switzerland, on Saturday and Sunday.

Skiers to watch in Sochi with Vonn out

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