Billy Mills - 1964 Gold Medalist in the 10,000 meters

[heettreet]

ya , i did no know him either ,, but when i saw a usa uniform on the home stretch ,, in the 10,000 no less ,, it was the second best exciting finish of the olympics for me ,,,, wilma rudolphs' relay win was the best. maybe mills, win was such a shock , i do not realize it to this day

[09ost1]

JIM THORPE, BILLY MILLS, LENNIE NADEAU ARE SOME OF THE BEST NATIVE AMERICANS EVER..

[lavernlarsen48]

Billy Mills is a legend!

[trwent]

The other runners didn't have a chance. Indian Billy snuck up on them.

[mahtivaari72]

Sorry for Ron Clarke. His records were in own class that time but he never won an Olympic gold medal. Of course, surprise heroes such as Billy Mills are part of the game but Clarke would have earned at least one gold. Clarke badly underachieved both at 1964 and 1968 Olympics.

[stevetheowl12]

Gammoudi is one of the dirtiest runners ever. He pulled similar shenanigans in 1972.

[tusancho13]

Pure American Indian Pride...!

[usmctanks1]

Of course he was going to win, he is a MARINE!!

[222mozart]

1:09 Siegfried Hermann

[BonesLover247]

He wouldn't be the unknown Billy Mills for much longer. Such an amazing race, I wish I could have seen it.

[turniptod12]

This makes me mad because this is probably about half the speed that Mills and all the other Olympians were running at. I think they should get credit for their actual speed because of their hard training and effort

[kentmotsinger]

That was quite a comeback!

[28jake021]

Still the only SOUTH DAKOTAN to win the 10,000m

[1976SaraM]

Love it! Just watched Running Brave last night and got choked up. I love this story. It's so inspirational. It just shows that anything is possible with hard work, faith and determination. Thank you Billy Mills, a true olympic champion. :)

[stikndip]

75 000 strong crowd? The field doesn't look much smaller! Great post.

[Choopzilla]

:/ i only clicked on this becasue i thought it said Billy MAYS.

[INFIDEL511]

hell yeah!!! inspirational stuff....

[Jaystew17]

Rock Chalk, Billy Mills!

[Blackbeltrunner1]

Watch the movie running brave it shows his journey to the Olympics.

[ExohxxJane]

@Blackbeltrunner1 Where can I get that movie??

[TheAirborneBehemoth]

Whatta kick.



[markhowiehoward]

Awesome job Billy! Your Victory is the most amazing finish in all of olympic history! I coached high school cross country & track at Costa Mesa High School in Southern California. 1987 through 2001. I always had this kids watch Running Brave before league finals. It inspired the team to do better!

[cinna71]

EXCELLEN T JOB BILLY MILLS

[yaknbo]

Well south of Rapid City SD they refer to themselves as Indians they dis it reflexively and without mr solicitation or the issue even arising

[bumblebeemoi]

I still remember how in 1965, he set a world record in the 6 mile run (10k is 6.2 miles), forever proving he was no flash in the pan, but the real deal.

[duncr]

look no horrible adverts around the stadium

[TheHolyCola]

wait, i thought he was black, then they showed that interview

[SDCyclone]

@TheHolyCola He's Native American.

[yaknbo]

@SDCyclone He's half Irish, too. And, the lakota call themselves Indians.

[SDCyclone]

@yaknbo Not all lakotas call themselves Indians. I know quite a few who take offense to that.

[gsmokha]

I love it. Thanks for sharing :)

[MrKonvict123]

i met him the other day, great guy.

[mazzon06]

46 second PR. That's incredible.

[ftsjr]

An awesome finish! And it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

[twinkie57401]

Great story in this week's Sports Illustrated about Mills. An orphan who grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of South Dakota, became a Marine Leiutenant, and an Olympic Gold Medalist. I get goosebumps watching the original black and white film when the announcer yells LOOK AT MILLS, LOOK AT MILLS ! ! !

[ladylioness]

@twinkie57401 - I get chills too watching the original black and white... and to be honest a few tears because it is such an amazing race! As a runner Billy Mills is one of my top inspirations! :-)

[bcelmore59]

totally awesome....!!!!

[hossa4ever]

met billy mills great guy .

[PeppermintL8]

so freaking awesome!

[dvdhockey]

I love running!

[JLynn96]

Billy Mills sure did it.. Yea USA, and for us Native Americans.. It just showed them that us Indians can do it too.. Listen to that song "I wont back down" By: Tom Petty. My Brother Tomi Archambault "The Gun" came out boxing to that song.. It represents Billy Mills too...

[joshjhutton]

This is great, these are angles I've never seen of this race before

[714isthecode]

this must of been before runners from kenya and ethiopia arrived props to all those that run in the olympics though

[DigitalOberon]

@714isthecode Actually, Mamo Wolde (Ethiopia) ran in this race, too. He would go on to win gold in the marathon at the Mexico City games in '68 - which would make it three Olympics in a row that the marathon was won by an Ethiopian (Abebe Bikila in '60 & '64; Mamo Wolde in '68).

There was definitely not a shortage of world class talent that Billy had to compete against in those days. In fact, the victory was even more special because Billy Mills wasn't even considered a contender to win.

[ShortBusStud]

Hell of a finish

[crwnikeboy]

Still the ONLY American to have won the 10,000m in the Olympics! Awesome race!!!

[leroy214]

@crwnikeboy really still the only american? right on!!!

[Mazurka1001]

@crwnikeboy That's what I was just thinking...and the way things are with the East African runners, on dope or not —nobody else will win the 5K, 10K or the marathon any time soon....