Billy Mills, a Native American of the Oglala Lakota Tribe, took gold in the 10,000 meter run in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, overcoming impossible odds, and attributing his win to destiny.
Billy Mills was our neighbor when we moved to San Diego in 1968. He and his wife Pat lived less then a block from Lake Murray. We all were so impressed to have this man who had won the Gold medal for the 10,000 meter in the Olympics just 4 years earlier as our neighbor (my sister use to baby sit regularly for them). I remember seeing him many times running by our house on his way to the lake for his run for the day. Whenever possible I would yell: “Hey Mr. Mills, how far are you gonna to run today?” He would often reply: “Oh, not too far, just an easy seven or eight.” Sometimes he said he was going to run “10 or so.” Me and my friends were always utterly flabbergasted that anyone could run that far. He was a hero to all the boys in the neighborhood. He was always so nice to all the kids in the neighborhood and I still have and cherish his autograph. I never grow tired of watching the video of his win in Tokyo. I get excited and feel such admiration with each viewing. He was such quality person.
Thanks for sharing your first-hand experience that helps us appreciate Mr. Mills even more. He must have enjoyed running in addition to being good at it. Think of the self discipline.
I'm Native American, Navajo Tribe. I remember Billy Mills come to our high school on our tribal reservation. He spoke at our school assembly. He showed us the clip of his victory of his 1964 Olympic Gold in the 10,000 meter. His story and inspirational speech never gets old. I was so inspired by Billy Mills I became a long distance runner myself in high school. And I ran a 4:48 in mile at Arizona 2A track meet. I ran my fastest in my life. I came in fourth place in the field of a bunch of runners. Billy Mills was my inspiration as a runner. I ran track and cross country back in my high school days. Billy Mills inspirational speech gave me the strength to be proud of my heritage. We Native American people of all tribes in the United States love Billy Mills. He's awesome! His story never gets old. Many Native American people in America Rose from impoverish life and succeeded in education, sports, and leadership. Billy Mills inspirational story will forever stay in our minds, and future generations of native Americans will continue to be inspired.
Thank you for your post, Mr. Deal. I honor you as a Native American and a runner. You and your perspective are valuable. A 4:48 mile is lightning fast, and few attain it.
4:48 minute mile! Wow!!! Beautiful story. Thanks for sharing! Mills inspired me when I ran my marathons. He did, as a matter of fact, run the Tokyo Olympic marathon about a week after striking gold at the 10,000-meters.
Love this story. I've watched the movie many times. We drove through his tribal hometown in fall '22. I imagine running lots of lonely miles out there with the wind blowing and eagles soaring
I found in a different one of Mr. Mills’ interviews that the steps that his Dad told him to follow in order to someday have wings of an eagle were to “Look beyond the hurt, the hate, the self-pity all of those emotions will destroy you. Look deeper and way down deeper where the dreams lie son/sad (I couldn’t make out exactly what the last word was). Find your dream. Its the pursuit of a dream that heals broken souls.”
I was the fastest runner in my elementary school, i wish I had found cousin Billy to learn I could have done things with those blue ribbons other than letting my well-meaning grandmother throw them in the trash while scolding me for not getting straight A's in school. Been great to learn about my heritage on my biological mothers side. I was raised by my dad and paternal grandparents. Hey, Cuz, Billy, if you see my comment, please respond. I am SO proud of you. Semper fi! Idk why my daughter, who my aunt, your closer cousin says looks like Pocahontas, chose to go into the marine corps for 12 years. went to school on her G.I. bill & now saves Covid patients in Southern California. We have a great heritage. so glad we all, including cousin Jared Young, found each other.
When I was a child I was lucky enough to listen to Mr. Mills in person a few times. After hearing his calming voice and inspiring words I felt like I could run through walls. While in H.S. I met him again as a decent runner he pulled me aside and said "push as hard as you can, we are all proud of you". From there I worked harder but more importantly recruited more Natives to run with me. He is a inspiration for all peoples of the world.
Over and over again, I watch Billy Mills' story and no matter how many times I witness this story, I still remain in awe. My goose bumps are real. It is 2018 and yet I still remain in awe of what he accomplished and what he stands for. HOPE. Hope, graciousness among discouragement, honor among dishonor, hope beyond despair, and wings of an eagle. I remain hopeful that passion has it's own destiny!
funny, i just showed it to someone on here yesterday, the guy hadnt seen it or knew about it cos hes younger. he jumped with joy when Billy came up from behind and kept going into finish!
Billy Mills was a driven man who trained so hard prior to Tokyo that he was DETERMINED to win. He won by running 50 seconds faster than he had ever previously run at the 10,000 meter distance.
Thank you for your comment, John. I felt something supernatural in his win. Mills certainly had been dealt challenging cards in life with the passing of his Mom and encountering racism. I apologize for the poor quality of the recording. I thought it was important to get his story out there. Also felt Tom Brokaw interviewed him well.
I remember hearing the story when the buss was taking all of the 10,000m runners from the village to the track and they were all trying to guess who would win. Somebody asked Billy who he thought would win and he replied I think I can win. Everybody laughed come on Billy who really. An amazing athlete with an amazing life story.
I think I can win. and there you have it.. this guy was big on visualization. nothing negative all positive. He visualized himself winning over and over in his mind and then did it
@@Dtruthseek Yes, forgive the terminology I initially used as it was absolutely intended as a compliment. The accomplishment and the story are absolutely awesome, and thank you for posting it.
Sifu Slim tells below about the racism that plagued Mills in his life. Yes, a statue for his achievements, and even more acclaim for achieving them in such adversity.
I really apologize for the poor quality. I recorded it during the 2004 Summer Olympics on my vcr also. I converted that to DVD using questionable software, then played it on my tv and shot it with a decent Canon digital camera and uploaded it. (You can see me walking around in the bg. My bad) Great story, great men. Also love Jim Lampley as a sports commentator, but don't see him much anymore.
Such an EMBARRASSMENT that the Jenner monster is more famous than this guy. This is what an American hero looks like. Guy screaming "Look at Mills, Look at Mills!!!" deserved a medal too. Instead, he was fired. Don't even know his name, but that's the best dam commentary I've ever heard.
clevelandcbi: Agreed. I always complain about U.S. commentators in track and field. How ironic that THIS was the best commentary I ever heard. No BS and straight from the heart, and he was fired.
I posted this video because it was very inspirational to me, all of it. Your positive comment about Mills is framed by your negative comment about someone else. To me that is unnecessary, distracting and takes away from what is important here. Philippians 4:8
The announcer who started screaming it’s Mills It’s Mills was Dick Bank. Dick was not the announcer, he was the track expert who was supposed to provide the information to the announcers. I never saw Dick express any emotion but this one time, he got so excited that he grabbed the mike and started screaming. One of the great moments in track and field and he made it even more special.
In 2012 President Obama saw fit award Billy Mills the Presidential Medal of Freedom. That says a lot about both of these men, particularly Billy Mills (of course).
Thanks for your comment Daniel Hurley. Not long ago I heard a report of what it was like for a Black man (a friend of a friend of mine) to experience the inauguration of President Obama. It was proof that people of color are stakeholders in this country, and very moving and transformational for him. For me the most poignant line in this video occurs at about 2:12 when Mr. Mills asks his coach at the U of K (and MIlls honors Mr. Easton just before) "Why are you not addressing these racial issues?" This video has a lot going on. On one level it is about a race. On another, a remarkable story of a nonwhite person who joined the Marines and became an officer, and yet even with that struggled against racism.
Have yet to find the complete race on video of this 10,000 final. Also never mentioned or seen is the U.S. Olympic trials 10,000 meters. Mills was 2nd and only the first 3 make the team. That is such an important race! It's not in the movie, and of course Tom Brokaw didn't ask him about it.
Semper Fidelis. Always faithful to God, Country, and the Marine Corps. Run the race so as to win the prize. Putting behind all things, to I keep my eyes on Jesus Christ, in whom my faith is founded. Have you been born again? If not, call on the name of the Lord and be saved.
Glenn Cunningham, Billy Mills and Jim Ryun were chronologically my running heroes growing up. Billy's 10,000 meter gold at Tokyo was particularly amazing when one considers his 3-mile time (not quite halfway through the race) was within one second of his best 3-mile time! I wonder if anyone has a comparable story at that level of competition?
Yes, when I hear that 3 mile time being within one second of his fastest, well the whole race just becomes supernatural and incomprehensible. We have Amazon Prime and there's a free documentary named the 41st Day featuring the runner Ryan Hall. Enjoyed that one. I am also a Christian.
When it's meant to be, it's meant to be. I ran my fastest 10k ever in the first half of a 20k race, so when it's your day, it's your day, and you never know when it's going to happen. But when it does, you have to recognize it, trust it, and be bold.
You make a good point. I thought I put it in the notes below the video-I just checked and didn’t find it-but I did apologize for that, probably in the comments when there were just a few years ago. It’s pretty bad. I think I taped it off the live broadcast onto vhs in 2004, and not sure I have the cassette any more. But hopefully the content of the video will carry the day.
I also spent a few minutes searching for this interview on the NBC video-on-demand website the other day when I first saw your comment. Couldn’t find it, but maybe I didn’t look right. (seems like it would be a good one for them to include, and the quality would be great on that)
What Mills did was capture an event no US runner had EVER medaled in before. The 10,000m(6.2 mile)race is a test of both strength and speed as the runner must complete 24.5 laps around a 400m track. Think about doing that when it's time to repeat a task.
Mills was a great runner and champion. However, I don't believe for one second that he dropped out of races to be defiant - that makes no sense. He probably went out too hard and wasn't mentally ready to accept defeat at that time
Thank you for your comment, ConcernedCitizen5514, and for honoring Mr. Mills. That's a part of the interview where Brokaw is on one track and Mills is trying to articulate a complex thing. A couple of other things that have occurred to me recently: a native American who was First Lieutenant in the Marine Corps in the 1960s was probably not that common. Also, his size. Wikipedia says he was 5'11" and 150 lbs but in some photos he looks like he weighed more than that, which seems a lot compared to most distance runners. (I could be wrong on that.) (I just read parts of Mills' Wikipedia entry; he and Clarke ran the marathon after the 10K.)
In our 3-hour interview at his home, he told me he had a condition that was misdiagnosed. He suffered from hypoglycemia, borderline diabetes. Some of his coaches and physicians made the determination that he was suffering from mental issues, such as depression. True. But it's likely that the depression and hypoglycemia were in a vicious circle in which one reinforced or was causal to the other. Medically, hypoglycemia can be treated. Though, it's not easy to remedy hypoglycemia for an endurance athlete. Billy tells a more complete version of this story and the apple he ate before the Olympic final in his chapter which is featured in my second book--The Aging Athlete. In Aloha, Sifu Slim, author TheAgingAthlete.com
Could you expound on your inference? Are you suggesting that it was rare for 10,000m runners to be as large as was Mills during his race? You read the other info on Wikipedia: Mills later set U.S. records for 10,000 m (28:17.6) and the three-mile run, and had a 5,000 m best of 13:41.4. In 1965, he and Gerry Lindgren both broke the world record for the six-mile run when they finished in a tie at the AAU National Championships, running 27:11.6.[9] So, after the Olympics, his size didn't restrict him from breaking the U.S. 10,000m record and again improving his time. He suffered horribly from racism. He was called "half-breed" by both Native Americans and by whites. One of his grandparents was Caucasian. The '50s and '60s were known for brutal offenses of this sort. From glascockrealestate.com/blog//billy-mills "As a runner at his University, Billy says he was often asked to step out of the shot during group photo shoots. He quickly realized it was due to his Lakota heritage, adding yet another instance of racism for him to grapple with." When the other members of the running team were given their running shoes in Tokyo, Billy was basically told to move on... that he was not getting any. He was told he would not receive any and this stance was taken due to the fact he was a Native American. Pretty brutal, eh? Aloha, Sifu TheAgingAthlete.com