Billy Mills
Mills at the 1964 Tokyo Games
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||
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| Native name | Makata Taka Hela | ||||||||||||
| Full name | William Mervin Mills | ||||||||||||
| Nationality | Native American | ||||||||||||
| Born |
June 30, 1938 Pine Ridge, South Dakota, USA |
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| Alma mater |
Haskell Institute University of Kansas |
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| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) |
5000 meters: 13:41.4 10,000 meters: 28:17.6 Marathon: 2:22:56 |
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Medal record
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William Mervin "Billy" Mills, also known as Makata Taka Hela (born June 30, 1938), is the second Native American (after Jim Thorpe) to win an Olympic gold medal. He accomplished this feat in the 10,000 meter run (6.2 mi) at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the only person from the Western hemisphere to win the Olympic gold in this event. His 1964 victory is considered one of the greatest Olympic upsets. A former United States Marine, Billy Mills is a member of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Tribe.
William Mervin Mills was born in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, and was raised on the impoverished Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for Oglala Sioux people. His given native name, Makata Taka Hela, loosely means "love your country." He was orphaned when he was twelve years old. Mills took up running while attending the Haskell Institute, which is now known as Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, Kansas. 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. He was named a NCAA All-America cross-country runner three times and in 1960 he won the individual title in the Big Eight cross-country championship. The University of Kansas track team won the 1959 and 1960 outdoor national championships while Mills was on the team.
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