Philippines’ Asa Miller during training in Beijing. –POC PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—With the odds stacked against him, Filipino-American alpine skier Asa Miller is keeping modest expectations days away from the start of his campaign at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Miller, the Philippines’ only representative in the Games, will be satisfied by successfully outdoing his previous performance four years ago in Pyeongchang where he finished 70th out of 110 competitors in giant slalom.
After all, it’s also what is expected of him heading into the Games where he is also participating in men’s slalom on February 16.
“I don’t think I’m in contention to win gold, but I’m certainly in a position to improve my performance,” said the 21-year-old Miller, whose American coach Will Gregorak arrives in Beijing on Thursday.
“But I want to be better, improve on my previous performance and give a proud representation of the Philippines.”
His dad, Kelly, however, has a different mindset knowing that anything can happen in sports especially in alpine skiing where the course and weather condition are major factors.
“It’s a big challenge for sure, I mean you never say never,” the elder Miller said. “We really need to train hard this week and ski the best he has ever had in his entire life probably.”
“But in Pyeongchang, there’s someone who won the Super G. She never really won before but I don’t want to put pressure on him (Asa).”
He was referring to Ester Ledecka of Czech Republic who came out of nowhere to win the gold medal in Super-G at the Pyeongyang Games.