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Billy Mills
Olympic Gold Medalist & Motivator
Billy Mills
Olympic Gold Medalist & Motivator
Biography
Billy Mills (Born June 30, 1938) is a member of the Oglala Lakota Tribal Nation and is also known by his Lakota name: TAMAKOCE TE’HILA, translating to “Loves His Country” or more traditionally “Respects the Earth.” He was an Olympic Gold Medalist in the 10,000-meter run at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. His Olympic victory is considered one of the greatest sports moments of all time. He remains the only athlete from the western hemisphere to ever win the Olympic 10,000-meter race.
Billy was orphaned at an early age, his mother joining their ancestors when Billy was 8 years of age and his father when Billy was 12 years of age.
Before his father passed, he told Billy, “You have broken wings, son, and it takes a dream to heal. Find your dream and it will take you down a path introducing you to your passions in life. Find your passion, develop your skills to equal your passion, and magic can happen! One or more of the magical things you do in life just may be looked upon as a miracle son.”
Due to his father’s teachings, Billy’s life is based upon dreams and the resilience of his ancestors. His great grandmother, BB Mills, an Englishman, was requested by Chief Red Cloud to become the first Indian agent at the Red Cloud agency, which is today the Oglala Lakota Tribal Nations headquarters.
The US Government refused this request, saying that BB Mills spoke fluent Lakota, is married to a Lakota woman and had five Lakota children, hence it would be hard to strip the children of everything Lakota to save the child. Shortly afterwards BB Mills died.
When Crazy Horse surrendered in 1875, riding into Fort Robinson with him were his warriors, the
elderly men, women and children followed by their supply train. Walking with them was Sally Bush Mills, Billy’s great grandmother and her five children. One of those children was Ben Mills, Billy’s grandfather. Their resilience and their footprints are present in Billy’s journey today as National Spokesperson for Running Strong for American Indian Youth, which Billy co-founded in 1986.
Speech Topics
Global Unity
Our world is changing: entire governments have been dismantled, new governments created, existing governments redesigned, universities re-engineered, and businesses reconstructed. Billy Mills shares what remains constant in our ever-changing world and explains how this consistency is our key to global unity.
He takes his audience on a compassionate and powerful journey through time, weaving stories of his young life as an orphaned Native American child living in poverty and coming face to face with racism, and explains that it was the daily choices he made in life, not just the talent he possessed, that led to his quest for Olympic glory.
In this powerful presentation, Mills explains that it is the journey, not the destination, that shapes us as individuals and unites us as a people.
The Pursuit of Excellence
Sharing his personal schema for success, Billy Mills explains how he has been able to unleash the passion and energy within himself to achieve phenomenal success in sport and life. Recalling his legendary 10,000 meter run—the greatest upset in Olympic history—he outlines his value-based concept on how dreams come true, a system which continues to inspire thousands of individuals across America today.
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