Andy Mill

Andy Ray Mill (born February 11, 1953) is a former alpine ski racer on the U.S. Ski Team. He was two-time Olympian, competing primarily in the downhill and combined events on the World Cup circuit. Ski career Born in Fort Collins, Colorado, Mill moved with his family to Laramie, Wyoming, before relocating to Aspen, Colorado, in the early 1960s. Mill was an accomplished junior racer and made the U.S. Ski Team in 1971, and in 1974, Mill competed at the World Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland. For the next seven years, when not injured, he was America's top downhill racer. In the mid-1970s, Mill was nicknamed "Wilde Hund" (wild dog) by Europeans for his gritty style and appearance (long hair & beard). Mill's finest hour was at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, where he placed sixth in the downhill at Patscherkofel, which was won dramatically by Franz Klammer of Austria. Mill's finish was the best by an American in the men's downhill in 24 years, since Bill Beck's fifth place in 1952. Mill had placed fifth in the previous year's World Cup event on the same run, his best World Cup finish. Following the Olympics, Mill won the downhill at the 1976 U.S. Alpine Championships. Two years later, he competed at the 1978 World Championships in Garmisch, West Germany, and the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, where he was 16th in the downhill. His racing career ended in January 1981 after a serious crash in a training run on the Lauberhorn in Wengen, Switzerland.