Don’t bet against Bode Miller
NH native had unique upbringing
New Hampshire, like Massachusetts, has produced a number of homegrown sports legends over the decades. Charlestown’s Carlton Fisk, the former catcher for the Red Sox and White Sox and 10time Allstar, comes to mind. Then there is Dover’s Jenny Thompson, the fivetime Olympic gold medalist swimmer who broke the 100-meter butterfly world record, and the long list of greats goes on.
Last Monday night, I tuned into a reality TV show that had just premiered its second season on FOX. It’s called “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.” I cannot lie. I love this competition of famous contestants. I didn’t know who was entered in this season’s lineup and was excited to watch.
And if you think you’re gutsy, I’d suggest just checking out one episode, and then tell me if you could push yourself to the limit. The first mission the 14 recruits faced was being suspended 335 feet in the air on a Trainasium structure over a freezing river. One by one, the competitors had to successfully walk across the steel bridge and climb down the ladder to a small platform below. If you failed, the drop from the structure was quite intense, and you remained dangling there until they brought you back to level ground.
Only four of the competitors succeeded in their task, including Bode Miller, 45.
Bode? Now, I was really interested in watching, and I’d like to bet that he will either win the competition or come pretty close barring any injuries. Talk about true New Hampshire grit, he’s as rugged as they come.
Bode Miller was born in the tiny town of Easton and grew up nearby in Franconia, the heart of the White Mountains. Bode is arguably the most successful male Alpine Skier of all time. And he’s got the hardware to prove it with 33 World Cup wins and six medals in the Winter Olympics − two silvers (giant slalom and combined) in Salt Lake City 2002, a gold (super combined), a silver (super-g) and a bronze (downhill) in Vancouver 2010 and a bronze (super-g) in Sochi 2014, etc. He officially retired from professional skiing in 2015.
The competition’s being held in the freezing New Zealand mountains, the Southern Alps. The eclectic group of celebrities and athletes undergo military training by special forces operators, and those guys
are tough, the real deal.
Bode is used to rough terrain and harsh weather. His parents Jo and Woody Miller raised him and his siblings in a remote cabin they built without electricity and running water until Bode was around 8. Most of his time was spent outdoors, and he was given a long leash to run so to speak. His parents believed
in children growing up with independence. Although young Bode as the eldest son had various chores to do, such as “chopping wood, stacking wood, moving rocks, building walls,” etc., he was given “exclusive rights to my own decisions in my own time,” according to an interview with Graham Bensinger.
It was his athletic mom,
Jo, “who nestled Bode between her skis and took him on his first downhill ride on Cannon Mountain when he was 2,” reported the Chicago Tribune in a 2002 article. She also said that her son “has a wicked determination.”
The 13 other contestants joining Bode Miller on “Special Forces” Season 2 include: