Mills is a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. The Olympic runner grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He attended Haskell Indian Nations University and the University of Kansas on scholarship.
At the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Mills made track and field history, where he became the first American athlete, and to this day the only one, to ever win the men’s 10,000 meter race.
In addition, Mills serves as co-founder and spokesperson of Running Strong for American Indian Youth, which helps American Indian people meet their immediate survival needs. The film Running Brave was based on his life story.
In November of 2018, as Digital Journal reported, Mills had a school named after him. This marked the first time in history that a public school was named after a Native American public figure. The South Middle School in Lawrence, Kansas, was renamed the Billy Mills Middle School.
In 2012, Mills was the recipient of the Presidential Citizens Medal. He was inducted into the following Halls of Fame: the National Distance Running Hall of Fame, the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame, and the United States Track & Field Hall of Fame.
Read More: Digital Journal chatted with Billy Mills in October of 2018.