Shannon Miller

Gymnast

• Born: March 10, 1977
• Place of Birth: Rolla, Missouri

SPORT: Gymnastics

Early Life

Shannon Lee Miller was born on March 10, 1977, in Rolla, Missouri. She grew up in Edmond, Oklahoma, where her father, Ronald, was a college physics professor and her mother, Claudia, was a bank vice president and gymnastics judge. Miller started practicing gymnastics at home but soon enrolled in a local club and dedicated herself to developing her talent. She continued to maintain a straight A average in school and became a member of the National Honor Society.

The Road to Excellence

In 1985, Miller’s parents sent their eight-year-old daughter to the Soviet Union for a two-week training program. The Soviets, whose athletes dominated gymnastics, paid special attention to Miller and encouraged her to develop her talent. Steve Nunno, who attended the camp and later became her coach, recognized her determination and skill. He refined her style and helped her to overcome her shyness and learn to play to an audience.

Under his direction, Miller trained six days a week. She spent hours each day practicing basic gymnastics skills as well as running, stretching, and studying ballet. She went to the gym early in the morning, then to school, and then practiced gymnastics until 9:00 p.m. She ate a late dinner, did homework, and saved time for her family and pets before bed. Her rigorous schedule required strict self-discipline, seldom demanded of children so young.

Miller had all the qualities required of a good gymnast: strength, agility, discipline, determination, and the ability to project her charming personality to the audience. She dominated local gymnastics meets, then won national recognition, and finally emerged as one of the top international competitors. She placed second in the 1988 Junior Pan-American Games in Puerto Rico and ranked first that year in her age category in the US National Championships.

The Emerging Champion

During the 1970s and 1980s, women’s gymnastics had become one of the world’s most popular sports. Television made international stars of Olga Korbut, Nadia Comăneci, and Mary Lou Retton. At the age of twelve, Miller began to stand out in the crowded field of talented young women vying for recognition. In 1989, she placed third in the Olympic Festival and sixth in a strong field of gymnasts at the Japanese Junior International. In 1990, she ranked second at the American Classic and led the field as the top all-around gymnast at the prestigious Catania Cup competition in Italy.

In 1991, she continued her drive to the top. In June, she competed in the US National Championships against thirty other athletes. She performed beautifully in most events but faltered on one routine and finished in seventh place. Kim Zmeskal, Miller’s major future rival, won the event. At the 1991 World Gymnastics Championships, Miller placed sixth in the all-around competition. She made a near-perfect score in the compulsory vault, which had been regarded as her weakest event. She also became the first American gymnast ever to qualify for all four individual event finals. She stood out in other international meets, and in December, she and her partner, Scott Keswick, won first all-around in the mixed competition at the Swiss Cup.

As 1992 opened, attention focused on the upcoming Summer Olympics. Miller missed the US National Championships because she had surgery on her right elbow, but she was ready in June 1992 for the Olympic trials in Baltimore, Maryland. The nation’s best gymnasts competed for the six spots on the US team bound for the Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. She faltered on the vault but then settled down to perform brilliantly. She came in first and startled the experts by upsetting Zmeskal.

At Barcelona, Miller and Zmeskal competed against athletes from 172 nations. Media attention centered on Zmeskal, who was the first American to win the all-around title in the World Gymnastics Championships. She was known for her dynamic, explosive style, while Miller combined grace with technical brilliance. Zmeskal thrived on audience adulation and blossomed under pressure; Miller displayed composure, consistency, and concentration.

Miller and Zmeskal faced intense competition from other young women. The Soviet Union had ceased to exist as a nation, but its athletes still competed together as the Unified Team. Despite the political turmoil in its homeland, the Unified Team retained its superior techniques. Zmeskal faltered under the intense pressure, and the contest for the all-around gold medal narrowed to Miller and Tatiana Gutsu from Ukraine. Miller led in the compulsory competition but lost to Tatiana in the finals. The loss was the closest in Olympic history. Miller won the silver medal in the all-around competition, a silver medal on the balance beam, and three bronze medals.

Miller entered the Olympics overshadowed by her better-known rivals but emerged as the leading medalist among women. She was the star of the US team, and her coach, Nunno, told the press, “Everyone has to finally realize the greatness of Shannon Miller.”

Miller did not let celebrity affect her. She was still shy and humble and became uncomfortable when people mentioned her medals. She seemed more excited at meeting other famous athletes than at her own success. Her quiet and modest personality attracted many fans. She did not let endorsement money destroy her perspective; the money she received went into her college savings account.

Miller continued to win honors. In early 1993, she was named one of the Sportswomen of the Year by the US Olympic Committee. More importantly, she showed that her performance at the Olympics was not a fluke. In April 1993, she won first in the all-around, uneven bars, and floor exercise at the World Gymnastics Championships in Birmingham, England. She continued to dominate women’s gymnastics as the year went on, winning the all-around medals at the Olympic Festival and the US National Championships.

Miller dominated world women’s gymnastics from 1992 to 1994. She gathered awards and honors from around the country for her mastery of the sport. Although she came in second to Dominique Dawes at the 1994 nationals, Miller became only the fourth woman in history from any country to repeat as the world all-around champion. Careers in the top levels of gymnastics are usually short because the “ideal” body type is tiny, extremely strong, and exceedingly flexible, which usually means young. The rigors of the sport cause many, often career-ending, injuries. By the end of 1994, Miller was, by gymnastics standards, old—at seventeen—and tall, at five feet one inch. She was also plagued by injuries.

Miller’s hallmark determination, however, led her to train and redesign her routines to accommodate her height, accentuating the beauty of long lines and graceful, controlled flow of movement. A mature, seasoned veteran, Miller won the all-around title at the US National Championships in 1996, and she went to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, as leader of the “Magnificent Seven,” the name bestowed on the American women’s gymnastics team.

The depth and strength of this American team, as defined by Miller, enabled it to win the team gold medal, the first time the team gold went to a Western country since Germany won the title in 1936, at the second Olympics in which the event existed. A step out of bounds during her floor exercise routine took a very disappointed Miller out of the all-around competition. Miller, however, won the gold medal on the balance beam by perfectly executing her signature move—the “Miller,” created by and named for her—and her dismount.

Continuing the Story

Miller toured with the popular “Magnificent Seven” after the Olympics, was co-grand marshal in the 1997 Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, and continued to compete. She placed first in the all-around competition of the 1997 World University Games. She moved away from top-level competitive gymnastics in 1998 and 1999. During this time, she studied at the University of Oklahoma, wrote a book, Winning Every Day (1998), and stayed involved with her charity work, especially as a national spokesperson for the Children’s Miracle Network.

On June 12, 1999, she married Dr. Chris B. Phillips in Edmond, Oklahoma. Her guest list of nine hundred included the most notable names in American gymnastics, including the entire “Magnificent Seven” team, Zmeskal, Bart Conner, and Comăneci.

Miller attempted a comeback to gain a spot on the 2000 Olympic team. Injuries, however, kept her from competing to her full potential and, ultimately, kept her off the team.

Miller was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2003, the United States Olympic Hall of Fame in 2005, and the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2002, she became the youngest inductee into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.

In the spring of 2003, Miller graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in marketing and entrepreneurship. She entered Boston College Law School in 2003 and graduated in 2007.

In September 2006, Miller’s marriage to Phillips ended in divorce after two years of legal conflict over money. Shannon married John Falconetti, a Jacksonville, Florida, businessman and political activist, in August 2007.

While completing her legal studies, Miller continued to contribute her time to numerous charities including the Special Olympics, the March of Dimes, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and the Pediatric Aids Foundation. Furthermore, she became an official spokesperson for the St. Jude Hospital Heroes program.

After retiring from gymnastics, she continued her involvement with the sport on a number of levels. Miller conducted a series of balance-beam clinics around the country. She worked as an analyst for MSNBC’s coverage of the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. She also commentated for NBC at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. In 2006, Miller launched her own show, Gymnastics USA with Shannon Miller, on CN8, The Comcast Network.

In August 2007, Florida Governor Charlie Crist named Miller cochair of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness. She also founded the Shannon Miller Foundation to fight childhood obesity.

Dedicated to promoting health and wellness and determined to be a successful entrepreneur, Miller began her own company in the summer of 2010, Shannon Miller Lifestyle: Health and Fitness for Women. This venture includes fitness DVDs, cookbooks, and self-help books. However, in early 2011, she was forced to put her business on hold and fight for her own cause when doctors discovered a rare germ cell malignancy on one of her ovaries. Later stating her Olympic training had prepared her well to face the mental and physical challenges of beating cancer, she underwent surgery and weeks of chemotherapy before being declared free of cancer. Not long after, she gave birth to her second child. She continues to travel throughout the country as a motivational speaker on fitness and making health a priority. In 2015, she published a memoir detailing both her experiences as an Olympic athlete and overcoming cancer, titled It's Not about Perfect: Competing for My Country and Fighting for My Life.

Later, she founded the Shannon Miller Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to children's wellness. As president of her lifestyle company, Miller offers virtual and in-person professional speaking appearances concerning surviving cancer, health and fitness advice, and motivational goal-setting for success. The company also offers recipes, exercise videos, motherhood advice, and gymnastics how-to videos. Miller also launched a clothing rental subscription service called Infinite Flips Box in March 2024.

Among her extensive list of awards, Miller was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame (2024), the Oklahoma Hall of Fame (2017), and the World Acrobatic Hall of Fame (2015). She also received the 2024 Abe Lemons/Paul Hansen Award for Sports Excellence, the 2022 Gilda Radner Award, and the Ovarcome 2017 Excellence Award.

Summary

Gymnastics requires hard work and discipline from young women barely in their teens. Fortunately for Miller, Coach Steve Nunno encouraged her to balance gymnastics with her family and educational future. Gymnastic officials cited her as an example of all that was best in young people. She maintained her perspective while, barely out of middle school, she emerged as one of the best athletes in the world.

Miller was the first true American international gymnastics superstar. She had a career comparable to Russian and Romanian gymnasts, the sport’s traditional powerhouses. She brought steely nerves, consistency in all events, innovative moves, and gorgeous artistry to a demanding sport. She did all this for more than a decade while also staying close to her family, maintaining high academic standards, attending college, and giving back generously to the community.

Bibliography

"About Shannon." 2024, Shannon Miller Worldwide, www.shannonmiller.com/about. Accessed 20 June 2024.

Deitsch, Richard. “Q&A: Shannon Miller.” Sports Illustrated, 17 Apr. 2006, vault.si.com/vault/2006/04/17/qa-shannon-miller. Accessed 20 June 2024.

Green, Septima. Going for the Gold: Shannon Miller. New York: Avon, 1996.

Joyce. Andrea. Legends of Women’s Gymnastics. Abbeville Press, 2024.

Kleinbaum, Nancy. Magnificent Seven: The Authorized Story of American Gold. New York: Bantam, 1996.

Miller, Claudia Ann, and Gayle White. Shannon: My Child, My Hero. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 1999.

Miller, Shannon, and Danny Peary. It's Not about Perfect: Competing for My Country and Fighting for My Life. St. Martin's, 2015.

Miller, Shannon, and Nancy Ann Richardson. Winning Every Day: Gold Medal Advice for a Happy, Healthy, Life! New York: Bantam, 1998.

Quiner, Krista, and Steve Lange. Shannon Miller, America’s Most Decorated Gymnast: A Biography. 2nd ed. East Hanover: Bradford, 1997.

"Shannon Miller." International Olympic Committee, olympics.com/en/athletes/shannon-miller. Accessed 20 June 2024.