Christin Cooper’s post-race interview with American alpine skier Bode Miller could have used some polishing. It could have been worded differently. But it was not what many viewers have condemned it to be.
At the bottom of the hill, after he raced and won the bronze medal, Cooper caught him for an interview. Her first question was an innocent one, considering he is the one who brought up his deceased little brother. The problem was that her question simply asked him to restate what he had already said about the run being different this time because of his little brother’s death the year before.
Many have criticized Cooper for her interview with Miller saying that she was insensitive to his emotions and loss, and that she pushed him when she shouldn’t have. From a journalist’s standpoint, she did her job. She asked him questions that got to him, that rendered a sincere response from Miller.
Her technique though, definitely needs some assistance. Her second question was the one with the main issue. She asked Miller, “I know you wanted to be here with Chilly (short for his brother’s name Chelone), really, experiencing these Games, and how much does it mean to you to come up with a great performance for him? And was it for him?” So many reporters seem to find the need to ask Olympic athletes who they did it for: who they performed so greatly for.
Like those athletes need something more to work for beyond being the best they can be? These athletes sacrifice too many years and dedicate too much time to their chosen pursuit for them to be doing it primarily for anyone but themselves.
Of course, I’m sure many of them have family members deceased or otherwise on their minds, like American athlete Noelle Pikus-Pace, winner of the silver medal in women’s skeleton. Her husband and children who toured with her this past Olympics season were most certainly on her mind as she won the silver medal with a spectacular ending to her skeleton career. That was obvious when she ended her run by literally jumping into the stands to hug her family. But don’t be mistaken; she did it for herself.
While Miller obviously had his little brother on his mind during his race, before and after too, it doesn’t change the fact that he raced for himself. I think that Cooper’s second question may have hit a chord, suggesting that he accomplished this amazing feat for anyone but himself first and foremost; I mean, that’s borderline insulting.
The reality of the situation is that Cooper should have incorporated that awkward second question into her final question that spurred Miller’s emotional breakdown. She should have left out the whole “for him” part and just moved on to asking, “When you’re looking up in the sky at the start, we see you there, and it just looks like you’re talking to somebody. What’s going on there?” Maybe that somebody was his little brother.
While that golden question did cause an emotional breakdown that pulled at the heartstrings of viewers across the world, watching the athlete slowly melt with tears on his face. He started with wiping the tears off his face, but soon succumbed to his emotions, bending over the rail and letting it out, ending the interview. Many of the outraged public are in this state of anger because of the tight camera shot on Miller during the interview, or how long the camera lingered on him after his interview with Cooper abruptly ended. People are saying it was intrusive, but think about it: this occurred in front of thousands of live spectators at the bottom of the run and it was already intrusive without the camera. Besides that, it was great television; just what people want to see: a real, heartfelt reaction from an athlete. I can almost guarantee that this interview will be included in the Olympic production seminar in Rio de Janerio in 2016.
The flow of the interview from hidden tears over his fallen brother to an emotional breakdown that ended with Miller in the comfort of his wife Morgan’s arms was monumental for the Games, and an interview that won’t soon be forgotten.
