Bode Miller came into his fifth Olympics with a more serious demeanor than he's normally shown as he became the oldest person in Olympic history to become an Alpine Ski Medalist.

He wanted another medal, no matter the color, and he came through in a big way. During the super-G event, one of two fastest ski races in the Winter Olympics, Miller finished in third place. Fellow American Andrew Weibrecht captured the silver medal.

When asked about the significance of his win, Miller's responded with his trademark wit.

"It means I'm old," Miller said in a wry tone.

Yet, Sunday's race wasn't all fun and games for Miller. After gliding past the finish line and securing he bronze medal, Miller began to cry in the finish area. He was thinking about his late brother Chelone, who passed away last April at the tender age of 29.

"Losing my brother this last year was really hard for myself, my family, our sort of whole community," Miller said of the emotional moment. "It was just, yeah, a lot of emotion."

Besides the death of Chelone, Miller has had a lot of ups and downs throughout his Olympic career, which began in Nagano, Japan in 1998. The lowest point of his professional career may very well have been during the 2006 Turin games. He failed to medal in a single event, opting to focus more on drink and socializing than winning. Now with a sixth and possibly last medal in tow, Miller just let it all out.

"That was one of the times where it kind of sunk in," Miller said, "where when you look at your body of work -- of basically my adult life -- in a phrase or in one sort of visual context the way it was with my trophies, it sort of makes it a little more raw for you emotionally."

While his retirement isn't imminent Miller is closer to the end of his career, than the beginning. He's 36 years-old, which is ancient for a professional skier. Skiers tend to peak in their late twenties and early thirties.

"You know he has that kind of speed," American skier and World Champion Ted Ligety said. "His speed this year has always been there."

While winning Bronze is a great accomplishment, does Bode wish he put together a slightly better run?

"I've never been so stuck on counting [medals]," Miller said. "For me, I've put in a lot of work and this was a really hard year and a lot of effort coming back to get fit and get ready and just battle through everything that life throws at you. ... It's almost therapeutic for me to be in these situations where I really have to test myself.

"If not the most important of my life, [this race was] right there with it. I had a lot to show today."

Congrats Bode!

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