Olympic skier Bode Miller and ex-girlfriend Sara McKenna reached a settlement deal late last week over custody of their 18-month-old son, Samuel. The settlement came right before the two were due to appear in court to testify about who would be the better parent to the child.
According to the New York Post, details of the deal are being kept confidential. “Neither of us got exactly what we wanted, but Sam got what he needed, and that’s what’s most important to me,” McKenna told the Post.
Miller, 37, initially won custody of his son in September 2013 after a family court ruled that McKenna, a retired Marine now attending Columbia University, shouldn’t have left California while she was pregnant. Miller lives in California, and the two dated there, but McKenna gave birth to Samuel in her first semester at Columbia. The case was moved to California, where a judge gave Miller custody, but the New York Daily News reports that a Manhattan appeals court reversed the decision a few months later, saying that the ruling should be made by a New York court because the boy was born there. Since then, Miller and McKenna, 28, have shared custody.
It was a busy week for Miller, who also had surgery on his back this Monday. According to the Associated Press, he missed the start of the World Cup season because of a herniated disc, which had been nagging him since a training run crash at last season’s World Cup Finals in March. The five-time world champion hopes to be back competing in January.
Read Outside’s 2013 feature story on Miller’s ability to thrive despite personal difficulties.