Nichole Ann Millage (born March 27, 1977) is a former American

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

ist (she retired in 2021 after the Tokyo Paralympics) and an Environmental Sustainability Specialist at the City of

Champaign Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in the state outside the Chicago metr ...

Early life

Millage was born in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in ...

in 1977. In 1995, she graduated from Centennial High School in Champaign. She played volleyball (middle hitter) and fast pitch softball (pitcher) throughout high school. In 2009, she earned a business degree from the

University of Central Oklahoma The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) is a public university in Edmond, Oklahoma, United States. It is the third largest university in Oklahoma, with almost 13,000 students and approximately 430 full-time and 400 adjunct faculty. Founded in ...

. In 2012, she earned her master's degree in Business Administration from the University of Central Oklahoma. Before joining the

sitting volleyball Sitting volleyball is a form of volleyball for athletes with a disability organized by World ParaVolley. As opposed to standing volleyball, sitting volleyball players must sit on the floor to play. History Sitting volleyball was invented in t ...

team, she worked as a legal secretary at Fischer & Wozniak, P.C. in

Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, which had 236,000 residents i ...

. She lost her left leg below the knee at the age of 21 in a

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...

ing accident at Clinton Lake in

Clinton, Illinois Clinton is the largest city and the county seat in DeWitt County, Illinois, United States. The population was 6,898 at the 2023 census. The city and the county are named for DeWitt Clinton, governor of New York, 1817–1823. Clinton Nuclear ...

. She also sustained injuries to her left hand.

Career

She joined the U.S.A. National

Sitting Volleyball Sitting volleyball is a form of volleyball for athletes with a disability organized by World ParaVolley. As opposed to standing volleyball, sitting volleyball players must sit on the floor to play. History Sitting volleyball was invented in t ...

team in March 2005. In 2006, she competed in the World Championships for

in Roermond, Netherlands, where her team placed 5th. In 2007, she competed in the Sitting Volleyball Invitational in Shanghai, China where Team USA won silver. In 2008, she participated in the

World Organization Volleyball for Disabled World ParaVolley, formerly the World Organization Volleyball for Disabled (WOVD), is an international organization that is for people with physical disabilities. It is affiliated with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The World Organiz ...

in Ismailia, Egypt where her team won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

and the same year won a silver medal for her participation in the 2008 Paralympic Games in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. In 2009, Millage won a gold medal in the Parapan American Zonal Championships which was held in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

and the same year won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

at the Eurocup in Roermond, Netherlands. Millage won a gold medal in 2010 the Parapan American Championships in Denver, Colorado and the same year won a gold medal at the WOVD Championships in Port Said, Egypt. Then in July 2010, Team USA won a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

at the World Championships which took place in

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States. It is a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, located in Central Oklahoma. Its population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States census, a 16% increase from 2010. maki ...

. In 2011 and 2012, respectively, she won three gold medals at the ECVD Continental Cup in Yevpatoria, Ukraine; Parapan American Zonal Championship in São Paulo, Brazil; and Sitting Volleyball Masters Tournament in Leersum, Netherlands. She also earned a silver medal for her participation in the 2012 Paralympic Games in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 2013, Millage, along with Team USA, won the gold medal at both the Moscow Open Cup in August and the ParaVolley PanAmerican Zone Championships held in Edmond, Oklahoma in October. Team USA competed at the World Championships in Elblag, Poland in June 2014. Millage and Team USA won silver and had their closest finish ever against China in an international tournament, 23–25, 25–22, 19–25, 25–21, 17–15. She was part of the USA team which won the gold at

2015 Parapan American Games The 2015 Parapan American Games, officially the V Parapan American Games and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 ParaPan-Am Games, were a major international multi-sport event for Disabled sports, athletes with disabilities, celebrated in the tra ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada.; gold in the Intercontinental Cup in Anji, China in March 2016; gold at the

2016 Paralympic Games The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil; gold at the ParaVolley PanAmerican Zonal Championships in Montreal, Canada; silver at World Championship in Arnhem, Netherlands; gold at

2019 Parapan American Games The 2019 Parapan American Games (), officially the VI Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 ParaPan-Am Games, were an international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, celebrated in the tradition of the Parapan Am ...

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, Peru; and gold at World Super 6 in Tokyo, Japan. She topped off her 16 1/2 year sitting volleyball career with a gold medal at the

2020 Paralympic Games The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Personal life

Since 2013, Millage has worked at the City of Champaign as an Environmental Sustainability Specialist. She manages the city's recycling programs.

References

External links

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Nichole Millage
on PlayPositive {{DEFAULTSORT:Millage, Nichole 1977 births Living people American sitting volleyball players Women's sitting volleyball players Paralympic volleyball players for the United States Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in volleyball Volleyball players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Volleyball players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Champaign, Illinois Parapan American Games medalists in sitting volleyball Parapan American Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 2015 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Parapan American Games