| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
Born in in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, Billy Mills, a Native American (Oglala Lakota (Sioux)), was raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He was orphaned at the age of 12. Both a boxer and a runner in his youth, Mills gave up boxing to focus on running. He attended the University of Kansas on an athletic scholarship and had some success.
After graduating with a degree in physical education Mills became a lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. He gave up running for a while, then returned to it. Mills qualified for the 1964 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team in the 10 000 m run and the marathon.
No American had ever won the 10 000 m before Billy Mills did it, and no American has done it since.
The favorite in 1964 was Ron Clarke of Australia who held the world record. The runners expected to challenge him were defending champion Pyotr Bolotnikov of the Soviet Union, and Murray Halberg of New ZealandFor alternative meanings, see New Zealand (disambiguation). New Zealand is a country formed of two major islands and a number of smaller islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. A common Mori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa popularly translated as Land, who had won the 5000 m in 1960The Games of the XVII Olympiad were held in 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had been awarded the organisation of the 1908 Summer Olympics, but had to decline and pass the honours to London. This time, they beat Lausanne, Detroit, Budapest, Brussels, Mexico City.
Mills was a virtual unknown. He had finished second in the U.S. Olympic trials. His time in the preliminaries was a whole minute slower than Clarke's.
Indeed, Clarke set the tone of the race. His tactic of surging every other lap appeared to be working. Halfway through the race only four runners were still with Clarke: Mohammed GammoudiMohammed Tlili ben Abdallah also known as Gammoudi (born February 11, 1938) is a former Tunisian athlete, winner of 5000 m at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Born in Sidi Ach, Tunisia, Mohammed Gammoudi was one of the pioneers of the African long distance runni of TunisiaTunisia is a Muslim Arab country situated on the North African Mediterranean coast. It borders on Algeria to the west and Libya to the south and east. El-joumhouriyya et-Tounisiyya Official language Arabic Capital Tunis President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali P, Mamo WoldeDemisse "Mamo" Wolde ( June 12, 1932- May 26, 2002) was an Ethiopian runner born in Diri Jille. He was winner of the marathon at the 1968 Summer Olympics. Wolde was a pioneer of African distance running. He competed at the Summer Olympics in 1956, 1964, 1 of EthiopiaThe Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Ityop'iya Amharic ) is a country of northeastern Africa. It has one of the most extensive known histories as an independent nation in the continent. Unique among African countries, the Ethiopian monarchy maintai, Kokichi Tsuburaya of JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh, and Mills. Tsuburaya, the local favorite, lost contact first, then Wolde. With two laps to go only two runners were still with Clarke. On paper, it seemed to be Clarke's race. He had run a world record time of 28:15.6 while neither Gammoudi nor Mills had ever run under 29 minuteA minute is: a unit of time equal to 1/60th of an hour and to 60 seconds. Some rare minutes have 59 or 61 seconds; see leap second. a unit of angle, 1/60th of a degree. It is then also known as a minute of angle or minute of arc and can further be divideds.
Mills and Clarke were running together with Gammoudi right behind as they entered the final lap. They were lapping other runners and, down the backstretch, Clarke was boxed in. He pushed Mills once, then again. Then Gammoudi pushed them both and surged into the lead as they rounded the final curve. Clarke recovered and began chasing Gammoudi while Mills appeared to be too far back to be in contention. Clarke failed to catch Gammoudi but Mills sprinted past them both. His winning time of 28:24.4 was almost 50 seconds faster than he had ever run before.
Mills later set U.S. records for 10 000 m and the three mile run, and a world record for the six mile run.
Billy Mills was inducted into the United States Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1976, and the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 1984. He is also in the National Distance Running Hall of Fame, the Kansas Hall of Fame, the San Diego Hall of Fame, and the National High School Hall of Fame.
Billy Mills is the subject of the 1984 film Running Brave , starring Robby Benson.