Bode Miller Fails to Medal in Giant Slalom After Missing Gate

After medaling in his first three events of the 2010 Olympics, New Hampshire's Bode Miller failed to reach the podium in Tuesday's giant slalom competition when he missed a gate near the bottom of the course on the first of two legs.

Miller lost time at the top of the course when he nearly wrecked and tried to make up for it by taking more chances at the bottom. Miller's aggressiveness has become his trademark over the years. When he wins, that's the reason why. But when he loses, it's also the reason why.

"I'm taking more risk than everyone else," Miller told The Associated Press. "That's partly why I'm able to get medals. It looks easy when you make it. When you crash like today, it's like, 'Oh, huh?' I did a good job today, too. I was right there. I was right on the edge."

Switzerland's Carlo Janka won the event with a combined time of 2 minutes, 37.83 seconds. Norwegians Kjetil Jansrud and Aksel Lund Svindal finished 0.39 and 0.61 seconds back, respectively, to take the silver and bronze. American Ted Ligety, one of the pre-race favorites, came in ninth, 1.28 seconds back.

In addition to his aggressiveness, Miller also placed some of the blame for his Tuesday shortcomings on the overcast conditions, suggesting that he couldn't see some of the course's bumps.

"This light — I knew I had an issue this morning," he told the AP. "I'm not one of the better skiers in flat light. I tend to move a lot more. Some of those guys are so squared up and solid, the bad light doesn't affect them that bad. … I hit any of those little bumps while I'm moving, if I can’t see them, I blow out."

Miller has one race to go in Vancouver — Saturday's slalom event. It will be his last chance to become the first man to win four Alpine medals at one Olympics.

"That's what we're focusing on now, I guess," Miller said. "I knew I had to ski great today to give myself a chance. I came out of the gate doing it. There's very small margin of error for me on this course. Slalom is the same way. … I'll have a good chance to rest now, get charged up for it."