Olympic Gold Medalist Billy Mills speaks at UNE

Olympic gold medalist Billy Mills 鈥 the only American ever to win the Olympic 10,000 meter run, and only the second Native American to do so worldwide 鈥 spoke at the 51品茶 Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010.

His lecture topic was, 鈥淕lobal Unity Through Global Diversity."

Mills is an Oglala Sioux Indian. Mills was commissioned an officer in the United States Marine Corps, and trained for the Olympic team.  He qualified for the 1964 Olympic team in two events, the marathon and the 10,000-meter run, and achieved one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history by defeating favorite Ron Clarke of Australia.

Mills was the subject of a major motion picture, 鈥淩unning Brave,鈥 and co-authored the book, Wokini: A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding, with Nicholas Sparks.  In 2005, Mills published his second book, 鈥淟essons of a Lakota.鈥  He has been inducted into the United States National Track and Field Hall of Fame and the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.

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