Shannon Miller

Profile

Family Name: Miller
First Name: Shannon
Middle Name: Lee
Date of Birth: March 10th, 1977
Birthplace: Rolla, Missouri
Hometown: Edmond, Oklahoma
Club: Dynamo Gymnastics
Coaches: Steve Nunno, Peggy Liddick
Began Gymnastics: 1983
Favorite Events: Uneven Bars, Balance Beam
School: University of Oklahoma
Parents: Ron and Claudia Miller
Siblings: Tessa and Troy
Husband: Chris Phillips
Favorite Food: Chinese
Hobbies: Reading, shopping, going to movies

Top Achievements

1991 U.S. National Championships Gold Medalist (Beam), Bronze Medalist (Vault), Event Finalist (6th Vault) and 7th AA
1991 World Championships Silver Medalist (Team, Bars), Event Finalist (4th Floor, 6th Vault and Beam) and 6th AA
1992 American Cup Bronze Medalist (AA)
1992 Olympic Silver Medalist (AA, Beam), Bronze Medalist (Team, Bars, Floor) and Event Finalist (6th Vault)
1993 American Cup Champion and Gold Medalist (AA, Vault, Bars, Floor)
1993 U.S. National Champion  and Gold Medalist (AA, Bars, Floor), Silver Medalist (Vault) and Bronze Medalist (Beam)
1993 World Champion and Gold Medalist (AA,Bars, Floor) and Event Finalist (8th Beam)
1994 World Champion and Gold Medalist (AA, Beam) and Event Finalist (4th Floor, 7th Vault)
1994 U.S. National Championships Silver Medalist (AA, Vault, Bars, Beam, Floor)
1995 U.S. National Championships Gold Medalist (Vault), Silver Medalist (AA) and Bronze Medalist (Floor)
1995 World Championships Bronze Medalist (Team), Event Finalist (4th Beam, 7th Bars) and 12th AA
1996 U.S. National Champion and Gold Medalist (AA)
1996 Olympic Gold Medalist (Team, Beam), Event Finalist (8th Vault) and 8th AA
1997 World University Games Gold Medalist (AA) and Silver Medalist (Team)

For complete results, see her USA Gymnastics Official Biography 

Photo by Matthew Barber

Biography

Shannon learned her first gymnastics tricks on the trampoline she and her older sister Tessa got for Christmas. Later, the Miller parents enrolled both girls in a gymnastics program in their hometown of Edmond, Oklahoma. Tessa gave up after a while but Shannon kept going to the gym, and soon she was training as often as four days a week.
When she was nine years old, she went to Russia with a group of American  gymnasts to watch the Soviet gymnasts train. On that trip, Shannon met Steve Nunno, a coach from the Oklahoma Dynamo Gymnastics Club. When she got back home, she decided Steve was the man she wanted to train with and she switched gyms. She would train at Nunno's till the end of her competitive career.
Shannon started turning in great performances on the international scene in 1991. At the World Championships in Indianapolis, she earned a silver medal in the team competition and in the bars final, and placed sixth all-around. But these terrific performances were overshadowed by Kim Zmeskal 's surpising all-around gold medal.
In 1992, a dislocated elbow kept her away from competition for several weeks. Despite missing the U.S. National  Championships, she came back in time to win the U.S. Olympic Trials, defeating rival Kim Zmeskal.
At the 1992 Olympics Shannon turned out to be the best  gymnast on the American Team.  Not only did she help the team to win a bronze medal, she also won four individual medals, including a silver in the all-around.
1993 was an even better year for Shannon. She won the American Cup, then she went to the Birmingham to win her first world all-around title, also winning on bars and floor. Later that year, she also earned her first U.S. National title (AA).
In 1994, she almost gave up gymnastics because she thought she couldn't put up with her busy schedule and all the pressure that surrounded her.  Eventually, despite an injured back, she decided to give it another shot.
She won her second world all-around title, but then other problems began to show up. At the 1994 U.S. Nationals, she was beaten in every event by Dominique Dawes. She 1995, she injured her ankle and her wrists and competed in pain at the World Championhips. She didn't even place in the top ten.
But Shannon was determined to win a gold medal at the Olympics. In 1996, she won her second national title, but her wrists were still hurting, and competing at the Olympic Trials in Boston would have been too risky. USAG rules allowed Shannon to keep her score from Nationals at Trials. SInce no gymnast levelled her score in Boston, she was included into the team, a team that would earn the first team gold medal in U.S.  women's gymnastics history. And even though Shannon struggled in the all-around at the Olympics and barely earned a place in the top ten, she won her first individual Olympic gold medal ever after her last performance on beam. She ended her career as the most decorated gymnast in U.S. history.
After post-olympics tours and numerous television appearances, Shannon went to the University of Oklahoma to pursue a major in business. She competed at the World University Games in 1997 and won the all-around.
She got married on June 12th, 1999, and everything seemed to indicate she had left gymnastics for good. But in February 2000, she announced that she was going to attempt a comeback, hoping to make the 2000 Olympic Team.
She competed at Trials, but she did not manage to make the team. Her plans include a post Olympic Tour

Links

A Shannon Miller Biography
Shannon Miller Dedication Page
Shannon Miller of the Mag7
Shannon Miller Tribute
USA Gymnastics Official Biography

Photo by Matthew Barber

Latest Update: August 25th, 2000.