Phoebe Mills (born November 2, 1972) is an American attorney and Olympic medalist who has been active in the sports of

artistic gymnastics Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), ...

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marathon speed skat ...

and

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...

Personal life

Before becoming a gymnast, Mills was a record-holding competitive

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors racing, race each other in travelling a certain distance on Ice skate, skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marath ...

. Her brother,

Nathaniel Mills Nathaniel Lincoln Mills (born February 15, 1970) is an American speed skater. He was a three-time Olympian, competing at the 1992 Winter Olympics, 1994 Winter Olympics and, after a three-year retirement, 1998 Winter Olympics, when he was capta ...

, competed in speed skating at the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

, the

1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, were an international winter multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Hav ...

, and the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 (), were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano, Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events ...

, and her sister Jessica Mills won the 1989

World Junior Figure Skating Championships The World Junior Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The first World J ...

. Mills attended

New Trier High School New Trier High School (, also known as New Trier Township High School or NTHS) is a public four-year high school whose main campus for sophomores through seniors is in Winnetka, Illinois, United States, with a campus in Northfield, Illinois, for ...

, before transferring for her senior year to Spanish River Community High School. She is a 2004 graduate of

Vermont Law School Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS) is a private law and public policy graduate school in South Royalton, Vermont. It is the only ABA-accredited law school in the state. It offers several degrees, including Juris Doctor (JD), Master of Law ...

, with a degree in environmental law. Following her graduation from law school, she owned her own small environmental law firm near

Londonderry, Vermont Londonderry is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, Windham County, Vermont, United States. It is bounded on the north by Landgrove and Weston, on the east by Windham, on the south by Jamaica and on the west by Winhall and Landgrov ...

. She currently resides in California directing Woodward at Tahoe. She is married and has a young daughter.

Gymnastics

Mills was coached by

Marta Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river), an Italian river that flow ...

and

Béla Károlyi Béla Károlyi (; September 13, 1942 – November 15, 2024) was a Romanian and American gymnastics coach of Hungarian origin. Early in his coaching career he developed the Romanian centralized training system for gymnastics. One of his earlies ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. 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 Gymnastics World Championships refers to a number of different world championships for each of the disciplines in competitive gymnastics. The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) organizes World Championships for six disciplines: acrobatic ...

as a member of the sixth-place American team. She was unable to compete in the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas ...

because of an injured heel. 1988 was Mills' breakout year. She won every meet she entered, including the

U.S. Nationals United States nationality law details the conditions in which a person holds United States nationality. In the United States, nationality is typically obtained through provisions in the U.S. Constitution, various laws, and international agree ...

, 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 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 () ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. 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 The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. The apparatus and the event are sometimes simply called "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is BB. The bal ...

, tied with Gabriela Potorac and behind Daniela Silivaş and

Elena Shushunova Elena may refer to: People * Elena (given name), including a list of people and characters with this name * Raymond Elena (1931-2024), French former professional racing cyclist. * Joan Ignasi Elena (born 1968), Catalan politician * Francine El ...

. 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

, specializing in the 10-meter platform event. She joined the diving team at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, 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

. 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.

References

External links

* * *
Phoebe Mills
at Gymn Forum * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mills, Phoebe 1972 births Living people American female artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1988 Summer Olympics American female divers American female snowboarders People from Northfield, Illinois Sportspeople from Cook County, Illinois Jewish American sportspeople Vermont Law and Graduate School alumni Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in gymnastics U.S. women's national team gymnasts 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American sportswomen