13: Cancer Survivor and Multiple Olympic Gold Medalist // The Story of Shannon Miller
Background:
Seven-time Olympic Medalist, Shannon Miller is the only female athlete to be inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame – Twice! [Individual (2006) and Team (2008)]. Shannon has won an astounding 59 International and 49 National competition medals. Over half of these have been gold. In 1993/94 Shannon became the first US gymnast to ever win back-to-back World All-Around Titles, and she is the first American female to medal in the individual all-around of a non-boycotted Olympics. Her tally of five medals (two silver, three bronze) at the ’92 Olympics was the most medals won by a US athlete in any sport. At the ’96 Games, she led the “Magnificent Seven” to the US Women’s first ever Team Gold and for the first time for any American gymnast, she captured Gold on the Balance Beam. She is the first American gymnast to win an individual gold medal at a fully-attended summer games and cemented her place as the most accomplished gymnast, male or female, in U.S. Olympic history.
Shannon launched her company devoted to helping women make their health a priority in July, 2010. She continues to travel the country as a highly sought-after motivational speaker and advocate for the health and wellness of women and children. Shannon’s seeks to empower women to make their health a priority through education and awareness.
In January of 2011, Shannon was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer. She had the baseball sized tumor removed successfully and followed up with an aggressive chemotherapy regimen. Shannon has remained open and public about her diagnosis and treatment and continues to empower women to make their health a priority. Shannon is currently cancer-free and continues to be a strong advocate for early detection.
This Episode Brought to You By:
- The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada’s largest mental health teaching hospital and one of the world’s leading research centres in its field. CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre. Many people don’t see mental illness in the same way, or even the same category, as other diseases but Mental Health is Health. And with every new discovery, CAMH moves closer to treatments that will change the course of mental health forever. If you have the financial means to help, please make a donation at The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Time-Stamped Show Notes:
- 3:12 Seven-time Olympic world medalist, Shannon Miller shares the first rock-bottom moment in her life.
- 4:54 When she found out that she has cancer, her competitive mentality kicked in.
- 6:10 When she felt that she could not go through the difficult process of chemotherapy, Shannon suddenly realized that she was not alone in battling cancer.
- 11:00 Breaking her elbow twelve weeks before a trial event has given her some important lessons that she uses whenever she faces any challenges.
- 13:12 According to Shannon, you don’t need to be an Olympic medalist to have that gold medal mindset. Everyone knows about goal-setting but it has to be put into practice.
- 17:09 The first time she wore the red white and blue leotards of the national team was one of the rockin’ it moments in her life.
- 18:41 Another rockin’ it moment for her was when she realized that she can come out of cancer as a stronger person.
- 21:49 The journey is more important for Shannon than the moment or the destination.
- 23:43 Shannon offers her views on losing and experiencing failures.
- 26:24 For Shannon, a positive mindset is finding your inner joy.
- 30:28 She was born with her feet turned in so she needed to wear a metal bar on her legs. Her parents were not sure if she could walk as she grows older.
- 33:30 Being a parent herself, Shannon talks about parenthood and implementing a well-balanced lifestyle for the children.
- 43:46 Shannon emphasizes on big-picture thinking and being flexible when trying to attain a certain goal.
- 51:25 She is very active on her website, ShannonMiller.com. People can also check her out on Instagram and Twitter @shannonmiller96.
- 54:13 Shannon offers her biggest advice for the listeners.
This Episode Sponsored By:
- 16:17 The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada’s largest mental health teaching hospital and one of the world’s leading research centres in its field. Many people don’t see mental illness in the same way, or even the same category, as other diseases but Mental Health is Health. And with every new discovery, CAMH moves closer to treatments that will change the course of mental health forever. If you have the financial means to help, please make a donation at The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
- 45:40 Please visit Shannon Miller’s website at ShannonMiller.com to check out her books, autographs, memorabilia, and other cool stuff for sale. You can also book her as a speaker. She is engaging, powerful, and she knows how to work an audience and to instill confidence and motivation in a room. Again, to find more about Shannon Miller and her story, you visit her website: shannonmiller.com.
Key Point from the Interview:
- “I think one of the things that’s often left out of that goal-setting conversation is the importance of follow-through. It’s not enough to know what we need to do; we have to do what we need to do each and every day if we really want to see those results.”
- “We learn so much more through our failures than we ever do from our successes.”
