Phoebe Mills

Last updated
Phoebe Mills
BornNovember 2, 1972 (1972-11-02) (age 51)
Northfield, Illinois, U.S.
Medal record
Women's artistic gymnastics
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
Olympic Games
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1988 Seoul Balance beam

Phoebe Mills (born November 2, 1972, in Northfield, Illinois) is an American attorney and Olympic medalist who has been active in the sports of artistic gymnastics, diving, speed skating and snowboarding.

Contents

Personal life

Before becoming a gymnast, Mills was a record-holding competitive speed skater. [1] Her brother, Nathaniel Mills, competed in speed skating at the 1992 Winter Olympics, the 1994 Winter Olympics, and the 1998 Winter Olympics, and her sister Jessica Mills won the 1989 World Junior Figure Skating Championships. [2]

Mills attended New Trier High School, before transferring for his senior year to Spanish River Community High School. [3] She is a 2004 graduate of Vermont Law School, with a degree in environmental law. Following her graduation from law school, she owned her own small environmental law firm near Londonderry, Vermont. She currently resides in California directing Woodward at Tahoe. She is married and has a young daughter.

Gymnastics

Mills was coached by Marta and Béla Károlyi in Houston, Texas. She attended her first U.S. Nationals in 1984, finishing eighth in the junior division. While Mills was sometimes overshadowed in the media by her teammate Kristie Phillips, she developed a reputation as a steady, consistent competitor in national and international meets, placing third at the 1985 City of Popes competition and second at the 1986 U.S. Olympic Festival and U.S. Nationals (junior division). In 1987 she attended her first and only World Gymnastics Championships as a member of the sixth-place American team. She was unable to compete in the 1987 Pan American Games because of an injured heel. [4]

1988 was Mills' breakout year. She won every meet she entered, including the U.S. Nationals, the American Cup, the Mardi Gras Invitational and the International Mixed Pairs, was named the United States Olympic Committee's Gymnast of the Year and was nominated for the prestigious James E. Sullivan Award. She also placed first at the U.S. Olympic Trials, easily earning a spot on the American squad for the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

Mills emerged as the U.S. team's most successful gymnast at the Olympics, leading the team to a fourth-place finish. While she finished a modest fifteenth place in the all-around (due to a fall on balance beam), she also qualified for three event finals, more than any other member of the team. She won a bronze medal on the balance beam, tied with Gabriela Potorac and behind Daniela Silivaş and Elena Shushunova. [2] With her third-place finish, Mills became the first individual American female gymnast to win a medal in a fully attended Olympics, and the only American gymnast, male or female, to medal in Seoul. She also finished eighth on the uneven bars and sixth on the floor exercise.

Mills continued to compete in early 1989, but retired later that year, due in part to the effects of Epstein-Barr syndrome. She has occasionally returned to the sport as a coach. In 2000, Mills was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.

Diving

After retiring from gymnastics, Mills became involved with competitive diving, specializing in the 10-meter platform event. She joined the diving team at the University of Miami in Florida, where she won the Big East Conference for three years. She also competed in national diving events, participating in the 1993 Olympic Festival and the U.S. Diving Championships. Mills retired from diving after graduation.

Snowboarding

Most recently, Mills has been involved with the sport of snowboarding. She has acted as a snowboarding coach and instructor, working with the U.S. junior national team. Mills served as a judge at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominique Dawes</span> American artistic gymnast

Dominique Margaux Dawes is a retired American artistic gymnast. Known in the gymnastics community as 'Awesome Dawesome', she was a 10-year member of the U.S. national gymnastics team, the 1994 U.S. all-around senior National Champion, a three-time Olympian, a World Championship silver and bronze medalist, and a member of the gold-medal-winning "Magnificent Seven" team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. She is also the Olympic bronze medalist on floor exercise from the Atlanta games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carly Patterson</span> American singer and gymnast (born 1988)

Carly Rae Patterson is an American singer, songwriter and former artistic gymnast. She was the all-around champion at the 2004 Olympics, the first all-around champion for the United States at a non-boycotted Olympics, and is a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. Patterson frequently joins radio segments on 1310 AM and 96.7 FM The Ticket in Dallas Fort-Worth.

Terin Marie Humphrey is a retired American artistic gymnast. She competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, where she helped the United States team place second and won an individual silver medal on the uneven bars. Humphrey was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2008 as a member of the 2003 World Championships team, and in 2015 as an individual gymnast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mohini Bhardwaj</span> American artistic gymnast

Mohini Bhardwaj is an American retired artistic gymnast who competed at the 1997 and 2001 World Championships and earned a silver medal with the American team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and is a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. She is the first Indian-American gymnast, and the second Indian-American athlete in any sport, to medal at the Olympics.

Oana Mihaela Ban is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast. She is an Olympic gold medalist with the team and a world silver medalist on beam and with the team. Her best events were the floor and the balance beam.

Kristen Ann Maloney is a retired gymnast from Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, in the United States. She won bronze in the team event at the 2000 Olympic Games. Maloney was also the U.S. senior all-around national champion in 1998 and 1999 and the 1998 Goodwill Games gold medalist on the balance beam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecaterina Szabo</span> Romanian artistic gymnast

Ecaterina Szabo is a former Romanian artistic gymnast who won 20 Olympic, world and continental medals.

Julissa D'Anne Gomez was an American gymnast whose rapid rise through the ranks of elite gymnastics in the mid-1980s was cut short by a vaulting accident in 1988 that left her a quadriplegic. She eventually died from her injury. She was being coached by Al Fong, and had previously been coached by Bela Karolyi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nastia Liukin</span> Russian-American 2008 Olympic champion

Anastasia "Nastia" Valeryevna Liukin OLY is an American former artistic gymnast. She is the 2008 Olympic all-around champion, a five-time Olympic medalist, the 2005 and 2007 World champion on the balance beam, and the 2005 World champion on the uneven bars. She is also a four-time all-around U.S. national champion, winning twice as a junior and twice as a senior. With nine World Championships medals, seven of them individual, Liukin is tied with Shannon Miller for the third-highest tally of World Championship medals among U.S. gymnasts. Liukin also tied Miller's record as the American gymnast having won the most medals in a single non-boycotted Olympic Games. In October 2011, Liukin announced that she was returning to gymnastics with the hopes of making a second Olympic team. Liukin did not make the 2012 Olympic team and retired from the sport on July 2, 2012.

Hilary Coplin Grivich was an American gymnast and diver. She was a member of the silver medal-winning American team at the 1991 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and the 1990 junior national champion in gymnastics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oksana Omelianchik</span> Soviet and Russian gymnast

Oksana Omelianchik is a retired Soviet gymnast and the all-around gold medalist of the 1985 World Championships. Omelianchik was most known for her enthusiastic showmanship, difficulty and originality, including pioneering back-to-back tumbling.

Brandy Johnson-Scharpf is a retired American gymnast, gymnastics judge, stuntwoman and gymnastics coach. She owns Brandy Johnson's Global Gymnastics in Clermont, Florida.

Tracee Ann Talavera is an American former artistic gymnast who competed for the United States at the Olympics and World Championships. She qualified for the 1980 Olympic team. She was the 1981 and 1982 U.S. National All-around Champion and a member of the silver medal-winning American team at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Talavera was born in Santa Clara, California.

Kristie Phillips-Bannister, formerly known as Kristie Phillips, is a retired American elite gymnast. The 1987 senior U.S. National Champion and one of the American team's strongest and most visible competitors in the mid-1980s, Phillips was considered to be one of the front-runners for the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. By the Olympic Trials in 1988, however, she had endured several coaching changes and a growth spurt, and was only named second alternate to the team. She went on to participate in competitive cheerleading in college and has since enjoyed successful careers as an actress, stunt woman, coach and gymnastics club owner.

Claudia Maria Presăcan is a Romanian artistic gymnast who competed at the senior international level between 1994 and 2000. She was a three-time team gold medalist at the World Championships with the Romanian team and was also a member of the gold medal-winning Romanian squad at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cristina Bontaș</span> Romanian artistic gymnast

Cristina Bontaş is a Romanian former artistic gymnast, who competed in international events between 1987 and 1993. Her best events were the floor exercise, the vault, and the all around. She is a world champion on floor, a double olympic medalist and a six-time world medalist. Bontaş scored a perfect ten on floor in the all around event of the 1989 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lavinia Agache</span> Romanian gymnast (born 1968)

Lavinia Agache is a retired Romanian artistic gymnast. She won 10 medals at major international events, including a team gold medal at the 1984 Olympics and three silver medals at the 1983 World Championships. She is also the 1983 European champion on balance beam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yelena Shevchenko (gymnast)</span>

Yelena Nikolayevna Shevchenko is a retired Russian gymnast. She competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in all artistic gymnastics events and won a gold medal with the Soviet team. Individually her best achievement was ninth place in the vault.

Richelle Aiko Simpson is a retired Canadian artistic gymnast and current acrobat for the renowned Cirque du Soleil company. An elite level gymnast for five years, representing the Canadian National Team at both Pan American Games and the World Championships competitions during that period, Simpson enjoyed her career highlights as an NCAA collegiate student-athlete – competing as a member of the Nebraska Cornhuskers women's gymnastics program. She remains one of the program's finest ever gymnasts, holding a total of four individual school records. Additionally, she was the first Nebraska gymnast to receive first-team All-American awards in all five events, and is one of only two Nebraska gymnasts to win an NCAA National all-around title – an accomplishment she achieved in 2003.

Kelly Garrison-Funderburk, formerly known as Kelly Garrison-Steves, is a retired American artistic gymnast. An elite gymnast for eight years, she represented the United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. In addition to her Olympic experience, she participated in the 1983, 1985 and 1987 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She was a two-time winner of the Honda Sports Award.

References

  1. Neff, Craig. "HARDLY TINY IN TALENT". SI.com. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  2. 1 2 HARVEY, RANDY (1989-01-08). "BREAKING AWAY : Jessica and Phoebe Mills Go to Great Lengths to Reach Stardom in Respective Sports". Los Angeles Times. ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  3. Russo, Ric (February 17, 1991). "MILLS PLUNGES INTO DIVING AFTER OLYMPICS". Orlando Sentinel . Retrieved January 28, 2023 via orlandosentinel.com.
  4. Ginnetti, Toni (1987-08-19). "Legal 'masking' drug found in test samples". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2018-02-04. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  5. Zaccardi, Nick (October 31, 2013). "U.S. Olympic gymnast to be snowboarding judge at Sochi Olympics". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on 2014-09-03. Retrieved 2014-02-09.