The life story about Olympic champion Billy Mills is indeed inspiring as well as demonstrates the importance of mentors in our children’s lives. Who is he and how did he become an Olympic champion?
Billy Mills is the only American who has ever won the gold medal in the 10,000-meter race in the Olympics. He did that back at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. He was an underdog who ran at amazing speed from behind to win that race, which is being remembered as one of the greatest miracles in Olympic history.
He grew up on a Pine Ridge Native American reservation in South Dakota for the Oglala Lakota people. His mother died when he was 8 years old. He started to run and enjoyed it. For his first race, he wore jeans and basketball shoes and lost. His father told him “It takes a dream to heal a broken soul.” Then, his father died when he was 12. Since he was an orphan, he was sent to attend a boarding school for Native Americans in Kansas.
Depressed and lonely, he did not run again until he was in high school with the encouragement of his coach: “One of you can do something magical in sport. One of you can become a great athlete,” the coach said. “I felt it was my dad speaking to me,” Billy remembers. He learned that running helped him handle racism and depression. He ran the 4th fastest mile in the nation while in high school, eventually earning a scholarship to run at the University of Kansas and then later ran in the U.S. Marine Corps.
His mentor for training for the Olympic Games in the Marine Corps was a retired U. S. Naval Academy track coach who was deaf and read lips – Earl “Tommy” Thompson. Billy and Tommy forged a strong relationship. He qualified for the 10,000-meter race and the marathon at the Tokyo Games in 1964. He always remembered his father’s words to him, encouraging him to have a dream. His winning the 10,000-meter race is heralded as a tremendous achievement.
Billy has given back to his community by becoming a spokesman for Christian Relief Services and co-founding the foundation Running Strong for American Indian Youth, which awards grants to help those youth achieve their dreams. President Obama awarded Billy the 2012 Presidential Citizens Medal for his efforts in Native American causes.
To learn more about Billy, please visit:
https://www.passiton.com/passiton-blog/105-olympic-champions-secret-to-success
https://usopm.org/spotlight/billy-mills-plenty-of-motivation/