Will Bode Miller's lower profile lead to better results?

Maybe it's better for Bode Miller this way. Maybe the bad boy of the Turin Olympics relishes being an afterthought this time around.

The emergence of U.S. skiing star Lindsey Vonn has allowed Miller to escape the spotlight heading into the Winter Games which open Friday. No controversial interviews. No hype.

"I think I'll get some attention, but with Lindsey doing so well this year, I think I'll be more under the radar than I was in '06," Miller wrote in his online blog last week.

Referring to media backlash about his off-course antics four years ago, Miller continued: "That was a joke. They blew that completely out of proportion."

And looking ahead to Vancouver, he said: "There's no way to know what it will be like until we get there. It won't be shocking either way, and I'm capable of dealing with it."

After debating whether to even return to the Olympics, Miller is back. And love him or hate him, he's again a multi-medal threat. At 32, he's a father now and has rejoined the U.S. Ski Team after two seasons of training and racing on his own.

"I'm looking forward to the Olympics more this time around because I feel like all the pieces are fitting together better," he said in his blog. "I'm more physically fit, I feel better mentally, my equipment is good."

Actually, the most pressing issue for Miller now might be his fitness after skipping summer training and then injuring his ankle in a team volleyball game in December.

"I would say Bode is not going to be 100 percent physically," U.S. men's head coach Sasha Rearick said. "He's made a good effort in the last couple weeks to get there, but I don't think he'll be at his best.

At the 2006 Turin Games, Miller entered as a major focus of attention, as much for his attitude as his talent, after saying on CBS' "60 Minutes": "If you ever tried to ski when you're wasted, it's not easy."

He was coming off his first overall World Cup title and was tapped as a heavy favorite in multiple events - only to leave medal-less. After his final event, Miller told The Associated Press that at least he "got to party and socialize at an Olympic level."

"The Olympics has always been kind of a sore subject for him, and I don't quite know why. Especially since he had an amazing Olympics in Salt Lake," said John McBride, the former U.S. speed specialist whom Miller hired as his coach when he broke away from the national team. "He always felt like people had unrealistic expectations of him."

Miller won two silver medals at the 2002 Olympics but now has gone three consecutive major championships without a medal.

In his first season on his own, Miller won his second overall World Cup title. Then with McBride gone for 2008-09, and Miller's buddy and former teammate Forest Carey in charge, last season became the most difficult of Miller's career.

He failed to win a single race for the first time in nearly 10 years. When Miller visited with McBride in the fall, he had practically hung up his skis. In September, though, Miller decided on a full-fledged return.

"He kind of wanted to set everything free and see if he woke up one morning in September and the calling was there for him to go out and be a ski racer," said Miller's agent, Lowell Taub. "Not because there was a train of momentum pushing him to do it or coaches or agents or sponsors or the media. He wanted to do it, because he wanted to do it."

Conditioning will be his biggest hurdle, but he is completely committed to the effort.

"Whether or not I ski all five events in Vancouver is going to be a matter of how my ankle feels and how well my body holds up," Miller said in his blog on universalsports.com. "I think the most important thing is that now I feel like I have the speed to be on the podium in all five events."