Shannon Miller, 35, won two gold medals at
the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and earned two silver medals and three bronze at the
1992 Barcelona Olympics. Miller, a former Edmond native, competed against the
best in the world and put herself through years of rigorous training to prepare
for what she thought would be the toughest physical period of her life leading
up to the '96 Games. Former Olympic gymnast Shannon Miller in 2011. Photo by
Steve Gooch Steve Gooch Multimedia Photoview all photos Article Gallery:
Collected Wisdom: Shannon Miller, former Olympic gymnast and Edmond native But
that period didn't occur until December 2010 when Miller revealed she'd been
diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She was given a clean bill of health in
September 2011 and sought to encourage children who are ill. Miller recently
gave one of her medals to Loma Linda University Children's Hospital as a part
of the hospital's Medals of Courage program. I definitely learned more about
priorities. I think as we go through life, sometimes, we really focus on our
priorities like I did with the Olympic Games. Then I got out into real life,
just balancing so many different things, sometimes, you forget what your
priorities are. It was big reminder to me that health has to be at the top of
the list. It kind of re-energized my passion for women's health because it hit
home. It was absolutely so personal. I'm telling women, “Hey, go get your
exams, go get your screenings, take care of your health.” I had to do that,
and, if I hadn't, then I might not be here. It was all of those women that went
before me that kind of reminded me that it's so important, which really helped
me because I almost skipped my exam when they found the tumor. For me, it was
just kind of a wake-up call to care of my own health because here I have a
little boy. I want to be here for him, I want to watch him grow up. I want to
be along for the ride. It affected me in a very emotional way — just the
realization that I'm not invincible, that we're all human. Cancer does not
discriminate. It doesn't care how many gold medals you have. When it calls your
name, it calls your name. You've got to be ready to fight. I learned a lot
about myself as a person and as a fighter and outside of gymnastics. On the
gymnastics floor, I was always a fighter. I was the scrappy kid that was gonna
go after it no matter what anyone told me, and that was fine. But I wasn't
really that way in the rest of my life. I was very shy, very kind of
soft-spoken, was fine being in the background. Cancer allowed me to be a little
bit more of a voice for myself, not be embarrassed by things quite as easily.
Not be quite as shy. We've got this one life, so live it to the fullest. When
you lose your hair, it definitely changes you as a person. For me, I was
worried about what other people thought, whether I was pleasing other people,
just making sure that everyone else is happy. I kind of learned that I have to
also make sure that I'm OK, too. The more I'm OK with things, the more other
people will be OK with things. Particularly with my son, when I lost my hair, I
was so worried that he was going to be scared of me. I had to be comfortable
with how I looked in order for him to be comfortable with how I looked. Keep
fighting. I had a good friend of mine on the night before I went in for my
first cancer treatment, and I did not realize he was also a survivor. He said,
“Shannon, this is just like the balance beam: You fall off, and you just get
back up. And you just keep getting back up every single day.” I really took
that to heart and kept that with me throughout treatment particularly. Those
days that it just knocked me to the floor, and I was not sure I could get out
of bed, my goal that day might be just to get dressed. I remembered what he
said, and I just kept telling myself you've got to get back up. No. 1, you've
got to set goals, and the Olympic Games is a great goal. But don't forget about
all the other great things where gymnastics can lead — college, scholarship.
Just the physical aspects — the balance, the coordination, the strength, the
flexibility — that you're going to take with you no matter what sport you try
or where you go in life. Don't forget about all of those goals, and make sure
you set short term goals. Have something to achieve every single day that you
get up because that's what's going to keep you motivated. I think you've gotta
have fun. If you're not enjoying it, and you're not truly passionate about it,
you won't be successful.
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