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Erik Schlopy & Bode Miller
When it comes to technical events-- that is slalom and Giant Slalom -- two men are leading the American team: Bode Miller of New Hampshire and Erik Schlopy of Park City Utah.
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(Jan. 5, 2002)------ The two are friends, but also competitors. Shelley Osterloh introduces us.
In last weekend's Gold Cup, they each won one event and a spot on the Olympic team.
Schlopy won the Giant Slalom race in Park City. Miller took the Slalom title at Snowbasin the next day.
Schlopy also competed in the 1994 Olympic games in Lillehammer, but decided he could do better. So he's making a run for the gold medal this time.
And he says he's really looking forward to competing on his own home hill as friends and family look on, the same place he won the Gold Cup and secured his Olympic spot.
Erik Schlopy/Olympic Skier: SKIING HERE JUST GIVES ME A LOT OF ENERGY BECAUSE I KNOW THE MOUNTAIN, AND THE PEOPLE OF THE TOWN ARE BEHIND ME, AND THAT JUST ENERGIZES ME.
We featured Schlopy on our early Olympic show. Now a closer look at Bode Miller.
When Miller actually finishes a race-- and finish is the key word there --- you can pretty much expect him to land on the podium.
For Miller, its all or nothing.
Beneath his calm exterior, Bode Miller's skiing style is explosive. Literally attacking the course and it's gates, even his teammates admire that quality.
Erik Schlopy/U.S. Ski Team: "BODE AS A COMPETITOR? HIS COMPETITIVE SPIRIT YOU KNOW? HE WANTS-- LIKE HE SAID IN HIS INTERVIEWS, HE WANTS TO GIVE IT HIS ALL AND HE DOES."
Shelley Osterloh/Eyewitness News: BODE MILLER HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN AGGRESSIVE SKIER. BUT IT'S BEEN MOMENTS OF BRILLIANCE MIXED WITH CRASHES. NOW HE'S BEEN MORE CONSISTENT IN GETTING THROUGH THAT FINISH LINE.
Miller began skiing at the age of three and now has four World Cup Top-Ten finishes last season alone, not to mention a couple podium finishes this December.
He's been to one Olympics--'98 in Nagano where he fell in both the GS and slalom events. That same spirit made him hike up the course and finish his run to the roaring delight of the crowds.
This year he's looking for a much different finish.
Bode Miller/U.S. Ski Team: "AND RIGHT NOW I'M SKIING SLALOM FASTER THAN ANYBODY IN THE WORLD. SO IF I CAN GET TO THE FINISH WITH TWO CLEAN RUNS, IT USUALLY WINS."
Bode suffered an ACL injury at the World Championships in Austria in February but says, he's recovered.
BODE: "ALMOST 100 PERCENT. IT DIDN'T HURT AT ALL, IT FELT STRONG AND MY LEG WAS WEAKER BUT REALLY NOT EVEN THAT MUCH WEAKER. I DIDN'T REALLY GET THE FULL ATROPHY THAT SOMETIMES YOU GET WHEN YOU HAVE A RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY."
The U.S. is counting on Miller and Schlopy in the technical ski events in 2002, which creates some interesting competition between America's best hopes for a medal.
BODE: "THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT OF IT IS--IT'S JUST THE SAME AS ANY OTHER COMPETITOR. WE'RE ABLE TO KEEP IT SEPARATE ENOUGH THAT I THINK IT DOESN'T REALLY SEEM TO HAVE A NEGATIVE AFFECT ON OUR FRIENDSHIP. BUT THERE'S NO QUESTION THAT I LIKE TO BEAT HIM."
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