From the November 14, 2002 edition of The Wayne Herald
Olympic champ gives advice
Olympic champion Billy Mills had this advice for Wayne State College students: set goals, keep focused and work hard to achieve your dreams.
Mills, the national spokesperson for Running Strong, a non-profit organization encouraging Native youth, was the featured speaker at daylong activities on Nov. 12 commemorating Native American Heritage Month at WSC.
His visit was coordinated by the WSC Multicultural Center.
An Ogalala Lakota (Sioux) born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Mills became the first and only American to win a gold medal in the 10,000-meter race in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, where he set an Olympic record of 28 minutes, 24.4 seconds.
Mills recounted the final lap of the Olympic race, where he had not been expected to be a contender.
"At 60 yards to go, they [Australia's Ron Clarke and Tunisia's Mohammad Gammoudi] were still ahead of me and I couldn't hear anything except my heart pounding," he said. "And I knew I had won. Concentrate on what counts without being distracted. 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."
While on the Wayne State campus, Mills met with students, faculty and staff. A special showing of the 1984 movie, "Running Brave," based on his life, was presented.
The evening also included a performance by "Many Moccasins," a Native American dance troop headed by WSC student Garan Coons.
