William Mervin Mills (born June 30, 1938), also known by his Oglala Lakota name Tamakhóčhe Theȟíla, is an American Oglala Lakota former track and field athlete who won a gold medal in …

Over the decades, Billy Mills has been recognized for his lasting impact as an athlete, speaker, and humanitarian. He received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Obama in 2012 …

Billy Mills is an athlete who was the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in the 10,000-metre race, achieving a dramatic upset victory at the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Clarke led, then Gammoudi and then, to the astonishment of both the frontrunners, Mills sprinted past to win by almost three metres, beating his own personal best time by 47 seconds.

The story of Billy Mills, the only American to this day to have won 10,000m Olympic gold, is so remarkable that it is the subject of a 1983 film entitled Running Brave. A member of the Ogala …

It was in Tokyo in 1964 when Native American Billy Mills—an orphan who had battled poverty, racism, illness and depression—shocked the world with one of the most unexpected, come …

At the University of Kansas under Hall of Fame coach Bill Easton, he was an All-American in cross country in both 1958 and 1959. After graduating from Kansas, he became a lieutenant in …

When Billy Mills arrived in Tokyo for the 1964 Olympic Games, few people knew much about the lanky US athlete. By the time he left two weeks later, he was a global star.

Mills is an accomplished Native American. He is an Oglala Lakota (Sioux) who was raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Life was not always easy for Billy. When he …

Jan 27, 2024 · During the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, the 85-year-old Pine Ridge, South Dakota, native and member of the Oglala Sioux tribe became the only American to ever win a gold …