Montrealer all about business of boosting elite athletes
Behind scenes, J.D. Miller plays key role in helping Canada’s best get even better
MONTREAL —They found the cancer in J.D. Miller’s lung because he had squeezed a physical in before heading out for a climbing trip in South America. One X-ray led to another scan, which led to a surgeon removing the upper lobe of his left lung at Montreal General Hospital shortly after New Year’s, in 2006.
Miller was only 52, a successful sports-minded businessman who had spent parts of the previous decade mentoring amateur athletes. Some had contracts that needed interpreting, others were having trouble paying their rent. When he received his cancer diagnosis, Miller was in the middle of something much larger.
Jennifer Heil, a fiery sprite from Spruce Grove, Alta., had narrowly missed the podium in moguls skiing at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. She was physically broken and psychologically unprepared. She needed help and found it in Miller, who invited her to live with his family while specialists rebuilt her for the 2006 Games in Italy.
Heil was welcomed into the family. It was in the kitchen that she and Miller cried together the day he was diagnosed. Miller was scheduled for his surgery six weeks before Heil — now wholly rebuilt — was to compete in Italy.
Heil went and won gold, telling reporters: “I’ve just had such a fantastic group of people around me, supporting me, believing in me even when I didn’t.”
Miller was among that group at the bottom of the hill that day. The trip to Italy was not easy. He developed pneumonia in his healthy lung and spent another several weeks in bed when he got home.
“I think if you speak to anybody who’s done sort of a ‘Hang 10’ over the abyss — and doesn’t fall in and end their life — they end up finding that time becomes increasingly precious,” Miller said. “And therefore, you want to create value and use that time.”
“At the time,” his wife, Andrea, said, “we had no idea where any of this was going.”
What began as a rebuild for one elite amateur athlete has evolved into something that has reached would-be Olympians across the country. The idea in Italy has grown into a group — known as B2ten — that specializes in filling gaps in funding, in using an unapologetic application of business practices to push Canada’s best over hurdles and onto the podium.
The “B” in B2ten stands for business. The group says it has raised $20 million from 15 wealthy Canadian donors, many of whom have preferred to remain anonymous.
Seventeen athletes received some form of assistance from B2ten heading into the Winter Olympics four years ago in Vancouver and they delivered 12 medals. Many of the names Canadians will hear announced this month at the Sochi Olympics have also received help from B2ten: Speedskater Christine Nesbitt, figure skater Patrick Chan, alpine skier Erik Guay and slopestyle skier Kaya Turski among them.
It is a lean operation. Heil and her partner (and longtime coach) Dominick Gauthier are principals, with Miller, and have a network of experts across many fields, from finance to physical therapy. The group’s mandate is not indefinite; committed through 2016, with an eye to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, but nothing concrete beyond then.
“Their impact has been noticeable, for sure,” said Ian Moss, chief executive of Speed Skating Canada. “In high performance, it often comes down to that last little bit of preparation; that last millisecond difference in timing or something.”
“I think it is an absolutely crucial thing,” said Clara Hughes, a six-time Olympian.
Miller is the son of a builder. He attended Choate Rosemary Hall, a prestigious private school in Connecticut, and studied at the University of Pennsylvania. He met his wife skiing. Andrea was a competitive skier from Montreal who was also part of the McGill University rowing team. They have two children: Jason, a 17-year-old who plays double-A hockey, and Julia, a 15-year-old who plays triple-A soccer.
The family lives in a wealthy area of Montreal. Heil lived on the third floor while rebuilding her physique, and a procession of athletes have followed.
Kara Lang, the 27-year-old Canadian soccer player who announced she was coming out of retirement last year, lived in the house during her rehabilitation. Daria Gaiazova, who will compete for Canada’s cross-country ski team in Sochi, also lived there last year.
“I guess it’s unusual,” Andrea said. “But think about it for us: It’s been amazing. We got to meet these great young athletes. They’re a great influence on my children.”
The impact on the athletes is made after government funding runs short. They do not receive direct cash payments from B2ten, but that seems like the only limitation. The group has provided toplevel equipment, training, therapy — both in the physical and psychological realms.
“Socialist athletics is just not optimal,” Miller said. “We have to give that up, just as we’ve arrived at a time where the average Canadian understands that government can no longer be all things to all people all of the time. Different people have different needs.”
For Helen Upperton, that help meant the purchase of a new bobsled before the Vancouver Games. They helped Nesbitt find a car to drive after she relocated for training, as well as a blade technician, among other things. For Guay, battling injuries, it was one-on-one followup training with a specialist.
“In some cases, it’s more flashy, like a bobsled,” Gauthier said. “But you know what? Most of our athletes, what they need more is that kind of one-on-one support with the top people.”
Gauthier said he received between 600 and 700 emails after Vancouver. Athletes from across Canada were asking for help. He said he responded to every email.
“There’s no waste,” Gauthier said. “It really all goes to the athletes’ preparation and making sure that our athletes have no regrets at the start gate.”
There is a checklist B2ten follows before it offers assistance. Can the athlete win on the international stage? Will meeting the requests of that athlete — whether it is equipment or therapy — help them win on that stage? Is the athlete going to be communicative and receptive to new ideas?
And the group’s goals are expanding beyond the Olympic cycle. There are hopes to keep top-level trainers interested in amateur sports and plans to make more children active by teaching them physical literacy through an outreach program called Active for Life.
If it works, it could increase demand on the third-floor bedroom in Miller’s home.