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In the 100-year history of the modern Olympic Games, Billy Mills is the only American ever to win the 10,000-meter run. Billy, an Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Indian born on the reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, learned early that life doesn't always come easy. Orphaned at the age of 12, he chose running as a positive focus in his life. After breaking numerous high school track records, Billy received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Kansas. Upon graduation, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps as an officer and trained for the 1964 Olympics.

The famous 10,000-meter race proved to be a cliffhanger. A runner named Clarke was expected to win. Billy was in contention with him and another runner right down to the wire. Four times during the race Billy was on the verge of falling out of contention, but each time he came back because of his intense focus. Each time he fell behind, he would say over and over to himself, "one more try, one more try." It was his way of keeping focused.

Billy became a legend when he crossed the finish line to take the gold medal and set a new Olympic record of 28 minutes 24.4 seconds.

"At 60 yards to go, they were still ahead of me, and I couldn't hear anything except my heart pounding. And I knew I had won. Concentrate on what counts without being distracted. I was going to come back. Don't waste your energy on the negative focus. Keep the focus. I trained for 15 years and ran 45,000 miles to win my gold medal."

The Olympic Spirit in YOU!
Billy Mills visualized himself as an Olympic runner. He literally ran toward his dream by not losing his focus. Think about an experience you have had where you kept your focus and accomplished your goal.

• Write down a goal that you achieved in school, at home, or in sports.
• What happened? Write down why you achieved your goal. Be honest with yourself.
• What distractions were there? How did you keep from losing focus?
• Write down what you will do the next time you are faced with a similar situation.

More Athletes

Ann Meyers Drysdale Bart Conner Billy Mills Baron Pierre de Coubertin Gail Devers Greg Barton Henry Marsh John Naber

Karch Kiraly Mary Lou Retton Matt Ghaffari Milt Campbell Nadia Comaneci Nancy Hogshead Paul Gonzales Terry Schroeder

For more great stories about Olympians, ask your librarian for books about Olympic spirit, including Awaken the Olympian Within complied by John Naber, and The Olympic Dream and Spirit, Vol. 1, 2, and 3, with Bob Schaller.