In 1968, Pine Ridge athlete Billy Mills captured an Olympic gold medal in the 10,000-meter run. It was the first win ever by an American in the 10,000 meter run and the first time since 1908 that an American had won any distance race in the Olympics.
Mills, an Oglala Sioux, was timed in an Olympic record 28 minutes, 24 seconds over the 6.2 mile run. He finished several paces ahead of world record-holder Ron Clarke of Australia. Mills had been considered far out of his class against one of the finest distance fields ever assembled. With a final burst of energy, he just beat Clarke and a Tunisian to the tape in what have some called the greatest upset in Olympic history. His record clocking was one minute better than his previous best time for the event.
When Mills returned from Tokyo to Pine Ridge and the Black Hills, he received a hero's welcome. The Rapid City Journal devoted front-page coverage to his story, and carried related stories in Sports.
Mills, orphaned at an early age, became an instant symbol of Indian potential for success. Before Mills' Olympic upset, someone had calculated his odds of winning at 1000 to 1. After the race, Olympic President Avery Brundage was moved to say, "I have been watching the Olympic Games for over 50 years and I have never seen an American athlete respond to greater pressure than Billy Mills did today in winning the 10,000 meters."
In his remaining running years, Mills would set a world record for the six mile run. But he never again approached anything like that one moment of glory in Tokyo. It earned him sort of immortality, as Pine Ridge is now know as the land of Crazy Horse, Red Cloud and Billy Mills.
10/01/03