Yanqing, China—Asa Miller admitted on Monday that he learned a bitter lesson from his DNF (Did Not Finish) result in the giant slalom event Sunday morning at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Saying that he lost his focus for waiting long enough to take his turn to start, Miller was aggressive from the get go as he went for five gates as fast as he can. He skied for only 15.9 seconds before crashing out.
“I just have to stick to my plan for the next race,” said the 21-year-old Miller, whose campaign is fully supported by the Philippine Sports Commission headed by Chairman William Ramirez.
Miller, however, avoided blaming the weather—it snowed for the first time in weeks at the Ice River on Saturday and Sunday—in the first run that saw 32 of the 84 participants also getting DNFs in the results list.
“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,” he said.
Miller’s American coach Will Gregorak observed right after the race that Miller skied not to finish “but to run” and go for a strong result.
The two-time Filipino-American Olympian expressed his frustration by leaving right away for the Olympic Village and skipped a request for an interview at the Mixed Zone.
On Monday, he appeared in a good mood as he watched the giant slalom medal ceremony where Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt received his first Olympic gold medal. Slovenia’s Zan Kranjec clinched silver and France’s Mathieu Faivre bagged bronze.
“I’m pretty bummed about that [DNF], but I went out skiing my hardest and I went fast,” Miller said. “Ski racing is a hard sport. A lot of the best skiers struggled yesterday [Sunday], and a lot of people didn’t finish so I’m happy that I put my best out there and laid it on the line.”
Miller was 70th out of 110 participants in Pyeongchang 2018.
He took a break from training on Monday and decided to watch the other competitions with his dad Kelly.
Wednesday will be redemption day for Miller in the slalom contest, his last event in the Games.
“I’m looking forward to the slalom and I know I will put my best out there again and hopefully things align and we get a nice result,” he said.
