Shannon Miller

Shannon Lee Miller (born March 10, 1977) is an American former artistic gymnast. She was the 1993 and 1994 world all-around champion, the 1996 Olympic balance beam champion, the 1995 Pan American Games all-around champion, and a member of the gold medal-winning Magnificent Seven team at the 1996 Olympics.

Quotes

• I think it was. I think growing up very shy, it was easier for me to block out things going on around me and that’s very helpful when you’re on the balance beam and there’s a million different things going on. I just could very naturally do that. And it really became a skill.
• I would say that I figured out a way to kind of combat the negative thoughts. It’s not that they didn’t come in. But I would really try very hard when those negative thoughts were coming in, I would immediately thinnk of two things that were positive and I would force myself to try to push that negative thought to the curb … and it’s not always easy and didn’t always happen 100% of the time but I tried really hard to stay focused on the positive.
• I look back at my career and I am so thankful for all of the small things that my parents did. I think the best thing that they did was make sure I knew that I was loved for being me, not for gymnastics, not for awards but they were going to love me regardless of any of that.
  • Q&A: Olympian Shannon Miller on gymnastics journey, cancer battle, being a sports parent USA Today, 24 June 2023 by Steven Borelli