Billy Mills

Billy Mills (actually: William Mervin Mills; * June 30, 1938 in Pine Ridge, South Dakota ) is a former American long-distance runner and Olympic champion.

Life

Billy Mills is part of the Indian tribe of the Oglala Lakota Sioux and raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation. At twelve, he was an orphan. In his youth he first started with boxing, but then switched to athletics and studied at the University of Kansas.

After his graduation as a sports teacher, he became a lieutenant of the United States Marine Corps. He was running for a while, but then returned back again and qualified for the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The favorite in the 10,000 - meter race was the Australian Ron Clarke, the reigning world record holder. Were also favored Pyotr Bolotnikov from the Soviet Union and the New Zealander Murray Halberg, the Olympic champion in 1960, 5000 m. Mills was then virtually unknown. His best time was about a minute slower than that of Clarke.

The race has been addressed very quickly by Clarke. With two laps were only two runners to keep up with him, the Tunisian Mohammed Gammoudi and Mills. He overtook both on the final stretch and won the race in a time of 28:24,4 minutes, almost 50 seconds faster than his previous personal best. He was responsible for the biggest sensation in these games.

Later Mills U.S. record in the 10,000 meters and over three miles and a world record ran six miles.

Billy Mills is 1.80 m and weighed 68 kg in his playing days. His life was made ​​into a film in 1984 (Running Brave, with Robby Benson in the lead role ). Along with Nicholas Sparks, he wrote in 1990 the book Wokini or The search for the hidden fortune ( Wokini. A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self - Understanding ).