MILLER, Shannon Lee

(b. 10 March 1977 in Rolla, Missouri), America's most decorated gymnast, male or female, in the history of the sport, and the first American to win three individual gold medals in gymnastics at a world or Olympic competition.

Shannon Miller was the second of three children born to Ron Miller, a physics professor, and Claudia Ann Miller, a bank vice president. The family moved to Edmond, Oklahoma, when Shannon was six months old, and she grew up there. She wore a corrective shoe bar to correct severely turned legs, yet learned to crawl and walk on schedule, demonstrating the tenacity and determination that dominated her career in gymnastics. These qualities, as well as her faith as a Christian Scientist, have had a major role in her success.

A Christmas gift of a trampoline at age five sparked Miller's interest in tumbling. Gymnastics lessons at a local center, Adventures in Gymnastics, soon followed. At age nine Miller joined Dynamo Gymnastics in Oklahoma City, where she trained with Steve Nunno and his assistant and choreographer Peggy Liddick. Miller's organizational skills enabled her to balance school and stringent athletic training and competition, and she graduated from Edmond North High School with a 4.0 GPA on 18 May 1995.

Miller placed in her first national competition in 1987 at the U.S. Association of Independent Gymnastics Clubs (USAIGC) National Gymnastics Championship held at the University of Delaware. Her first major, elite-level meet was the 1988 U.S. Classic, where she won the vault, balance beam, and all-around competitions. Other performances of note were at the 1990 Catania Cup, with first place finishes in the vault, balance beam, floor exercise, and all-around; the all-around title at the 1991 Swiss Cup in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and the gold medal in the balance beam at the 1991 U.S. Gymnastics Championship.

Shortly before her first Olympic competition Miller suffered a dislocated elbow and bone chip. She elected for surgical repair and, and with her usual determination, returned to training in one month. In spite of this setback, she competed with great success at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Miller won silver medals in the all-around and balance beam; and bronze medals in the uneven bars, floor exercise, and the team competition—more medals than any other U.S. athlete that year.

Miller's winning ways continued in 1993, as she captured three gold medals in the World Championships in Birmingham, England, set or tied seven gymnastics records at the Olympic Sports Festival in San Antonio, Texas, swept the American Cup, and became the all-around victor at the U.S. Championships. The latter victory was her first national title. She overcame burnout and continued training with increased vigor. In fact, Miller won her second consecutive World Gymnastics all-around title in 1994, becoming the only U.S. gymnast ever to accomplish this feat. The fifteen-year-old Miller was only four feet, seven inches, and seventy-five pounds for her first Olympic competition in 1992. Many critics felt that the nineteen-year-old Miller, at five feet and ninety-seven pounds, was past her prime in 1996; however, she proved her detractors wrong. She went on to win an individual gold medal on the balance beam and was a member of the "Magnificent Seven" that captured the team Olympic gold in Atlanta.

After winning fifty-eight international and forty-nine national competitions, Miller retired from amateur gymnastics and continued her studies in marketing at the University of Oklahoma. Miller married physician Chris Phillips on 12 June 1999 and moved to Houston. At age 23, Miller attempted a comeback for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She trained intensively for ten months, but withdrew from the U.S. trials in Boston after jamming a knee on her first vault of the evening. With competition behind her, Miller stated: "Hopefully, I'll be remembered as someone who enjoyed the sport, someone who put in the effort and worked hard." She continues to write, makes personal appearances, is a motivational speaker, and works with many charitable organizations. Miller's book, Winning Every Day: Gold Medal Advice for a Happy, Healthy Life (1998), consists of inspirational, autobiographical essays to encourage aspiring athletes.

A sign erected at the outskirts of Edmond praises Miller's achievements by proclaiming the city as "Home of Shannon Miller, winner of 5 medals, 1992 Olympics." Edmond further honored her in 1998 with her own street—Shannon Miller Parkway—and construction of a bronze statue of Miller in Shannon Miller Park began in 2001.

Biographies of Miller include Septima Green, Going for the Gold: Shannon Miller (1996); Krista Quiner, Shannon Miller: America ' s Most Decorated Gymnast (1997); and Claudia Ann Miller (Miller's mother) with Gayle White, Shannon Miller: My Child, My Hero (1999). Miller is also profiled in Nancy A. Kleinbaum, The Magnificent Seven: The Authorized Story of American Gold (1996), which features each member of the first U.S. gymnastics team to win Olympic gold. Also of interest is Selena Roberts, "The Road to Sidney, Miller Out but Dawes and Chow Make the Team," New York Times (21 Aug. 2000).

Jeannie P. Miller