Yanqing, China—Asa Miller has the tools and skills of barging into the top 50 in giant slalom of alpine skiing at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the Filipino-American’s coach said on Friday.
“We’re going to see some good skiing from Asa. And if he skis what he’s capable of, he’s capable of top 45, easily,” said Will Gregorak, who arrived here on Thursday to oversee Miller in his second consecutive Winter Games.
Gregorak, a former world top 50 alpine skier giant slalom and slalom when he was racing for the US team, said Miller has improved a lot since Pyeongchang 2018, when he finished 70th among 110 competitors.
“I see him develop not only technically, but as a competitor,,” said the 31-year-old Gregorak. “He understands himself a lot better and ski racing is such a very variable sport that anything can happen on race day. So you have to go to the game charging with a lot of intensity—and there’s always a lot of risks involved.”
The giant slalom event starts at 10 a.m. on Sunday at the Ice River course of the National Alpine Skiing Centre.
Miller, whose campaign is fully supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee and Philippine Sports Commission, will also see action in slalom on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old Miller, Gregorak observed, never backs down from a challenging course on the slope of Xiaohaituo Mountain.
“My first impression of the slope is it gets steeper and icier, it’s a very legit hill so it’s going to be an intense and high level skiing,” he said. “But Asa is not backing off from the very intimidating pitch, skiing confidently and looks like he’s doing very well mentally to prepare himself on what type of skiing he will put down on the race deck.”
Miller said he feels strong for both events after getting accustomed to the Ice River for almost two weeks.
“In GS [Giant Slalom], you have more time and the terrains is a little bit bigger so I am more slightly comfortable,” Miller said. “GS is my strongest discipline, but I am close to equal [for slalom].”
“Slalom is much faster, the terrain is much smaller so you have to move much quicker,” said the Economics sophomore at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. “Slalom and giant slalom are different disciplines for the slightly different skills set.”