Olympic Champion Billy Mills Gives Pep Talk to Students

More than 400 students packed Florence Nightingale Middle School in Highland Park on Wednesday to hear Olympic champion Billy Mills share his account of what has been called one of the greatest come-from-behind finishes in Olympic history.

At the 1964 games in Tokyo, Mills, a Sioux Indian from South Dakota, became the first American to win the 10,000-meter run.

Imparting themes of goal-setting and confidence, Mills told the students how he was transformed from a virtual unknown into a legend in a little more than 28 minutes.

“After being shoved off the track, I came back and focused on my lane,” Mills said. “I heard 85,000 people cheering, my legs were wobbly and my vision was coming and going . . . I thought to myself, ‘I can win. I can win. I can win,’ and then I felt the tape break across my chest.”

Mills, an insurance agency owner, uses that same determination as a national speaker to motivate students on how to pursue their goals.

“Find your desires, know yourself and succeed,” said Mills, who was orphaned at 13. “Those desires can be found in sports, the arts, creative writing, student leadership.”

“He was amazing,” said eighth-grader Angie Morales, the school’s student body president. “He was an orphan, grew up in poverty and was still able to focus on a dream.”

Mills, who lives in Fair Oaks, near Sacramento, flew in for the lecture as part of the Southwest Museum’s community outreach program. After the presentation, City Councilman Mike Hernandez presented Mills with the museum’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

As part of the outreach project, the students also will visit the Southwest Museum to view art and artifacts representing Native American cultures from Alaska to South America.

Michael Heumann, the museum’s president, said: “Many children don’t have the opportunity to come to the museum. Our mission is to share the richness of Native American life and art with them.”