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Andy Mill

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Disciplines
  
Downhill, combined

Medals
  
0

Weight
  
174 kg

Medals
  
0

Height
  
1.8 m


World Cup debut
  
1974 (age 20)

Name
  
Andy Mill

Retired
  
January 1981

Andy Mill with Chris Evert

Born
  
February 11, 1953 (age 71) Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S. (
1953-02-11
)

Teams
  
4 – (1974, '76, '78, '80)(includes two Olympics)

Spouse
  
Debra Harvick (m. 2009), Chris Evert (m. 1988–2006), Robin Ridenour (m. 1979–1988)

Children
  
Colton Jack, Nicholas Joseph, Alexander James

Similar People
  
Chris Evert, John Lloyd, Greg Norman, Jimmy Evert, Jimmy Connors

World Championships Team
  
4 – (1974, '76, '78, '80)

Olympics Team
  
2 - (1976, 1980)

World Cup Season
  
8 – (1974–1981)

Zodiac Sign
  
Aquarius

Andy mill and howard croston testing the new hardy sintrix fly rods on florida sharks


Andy Ray Mill (born February 11, 1953) is a former alpine ski racer on the U.S. Ski Team. He was two-time Olympian, competing primarily in the downhill and Combined events on the World Cup circuit.

Contents

Andy Mill and Chris Evert in a formal attire

Facts

  • In the 1976 Olympics, Mill placed 6th while skiing on a severely injured ankle and was honored with the “Olympic Spirit Award,” while in 1993 he was inducted into the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame.
  • Andy Mill was lovingly nicknamed "Wilde Hund" (which means wild dog) by the Europeans for his gritty, spirited style and appearance that included his long hair and a beard.
  • Andy Mill’s broadcasting career stretched for about twenty years. In that time span, he covered two Olympics and hundreds of TV network specials, which included 81 fishing shows from around the globe.
  • Andy Mill has mentioned in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, that his passion for skiing was instilled by his father from his childhood.
  • Before Andy Mill made it to the US Ski team when he was just 18 years old, in the year 1971, he failed twice at the prelims.
  • Andy Mill and his son, Nicky Mill run a weekly podcast named Millhouse podcast, where they hold in-depth conversations with pioneers, legends, and innovators from the fishing industrty.
  • Andy Mill is famous for fishing with celebrated personalities, such as, George H. W. Bush, the 41st president of the united States.
  • Andy Mill is the author of one of the best selling books on fishing - A Passion for Tarpon.
  • Andy Mill’s favorite fishing rod is the one piece 11 weight Zane Pro Hardy.
  • Andy Mill’s father, Dick Mill was a lumber jack and mostly always outdoors. Andy was introduced to skiing at the age of eight in the Medicine Bow Mountains just west of Laramie.
  • Andy Mill is featured in a historic ski documentary in 1976 named “A Matter of Time”
  • Before entering the US team, Andy Mill was in the Aspen Ski Club as junior racer.

Andy Mill, Legends of Aspen Video Series


Ski career

Smiling Andy Mill wearing a sweater

Born in Fort Collins, Mill moved with his family to Laramie, Wyoming, before relocating to Aspen, Colorado in the early 1960s. Mill was an accomplished junior racer and made the U.S. Ski Team in 1971, and in 1974, Mill competed at the World Championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland. For the next seven years, when not injured, he was America's top downhill racer. In the mid-1970s, Mill was nicknamed "Wilde Hund" (wild dog) by Europeans for his gritty style and appearance (long hair & beard).

Andy Mill and Chris Evert with three children

Mill's finest hour was at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, where he placed sixth in the downhill at Patscherkofel, which was won dramatically by Franz Klammer of Austria. Mill's finish was the best by an American in the men's downhill in 24 years, since Bill Beck's fifth place in 1952. Mill had placed fifth in the previous year's World Cup event on the same run, his best World Cup finish.

Andy Mill with his spouse Debra Harvick

Following the Olympics, Mill won the downhill at the 1976 U.S. Alpine Championships. Two years later, he competed at the 1978 World Championships in Garmisch, West Germany, and the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, where he was 16th in the downhill. His racing career ended in January 1981 after a serious crash in a training run on the Lauberhorn in Wengen, Switzerland.

Andy Mill and Chris Evert

In 1988, Mill was presented with the U.S. Olympic Spirit Award in recognition for overcoming adversity in the 1976 Olympic Games, where he placed sixth in the downhill, even though injured. His lower right leg was so badly bruised from a training injury that he could not stand without pain the day before the race. In order to compete, he froze his leg in the snow minutes before entering the starting gate.

World championship results

From 1948 through 1980, the Winter Olympics were also the World Championships for alpine skiing.

After ski racing

Since his retirement from ski racing in 1981, Mill has worked as a ski racing commentator with ESPN, NBC, ABC, and CBS. He has a syndicated show in major ski areas in the U.S. entitled Ski with Andy Mill, which he hosts, writes and produces.

Mill has served on the boards of the Aspen Educational Foundation, the U.S. Olympic Educational Ski Foundation for the U.S. Ski Team, Aspen Winterclub Foundation, and National Atlantic Salmon Fishing Federation.

After his ski racing career concluded, Andy Mill found another passion - tarpon fishing. A lifelong fisherman, he brought a similar level of dedication and perfection to fishing. Although he admittedly struggled for quite a few years, he eventually mastered the art of tarpon fishing and went on to become only the second angler to win 5 Gold Cup Tarpon tournaments and be a triple crown winner in tarpon fishing (Gold Cup, Hawley, and Golden Fly). Mill has also hosted an outdoor show on OLN as well as fished for a number of fish including marlin, sailfish, bonefish, and permit, among others.

Personal life

He was divorced from his first wife, Robin, a former Miss California. On July 30, 1988 in Boca Raton, Florida, Andy Mill married tennis star Chris Evert, whom he had met 19 months earlier at a New Year's Eve party at the Hotel Jerome in Aspen. After 18 years of marriage and three sons, they were divorced in December 2006 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, citing irreconcilable differences. Evert had left Mill for golfer and former friend of the couple, Greg Norman. Mill received $7 million in cash & securities from Evert, the $4 million house in Aspen, and several vehicles. After their divorce, Mill wished Evert and Greg Norman 'happiness'. He became engaged to Debra Harvick of Aspen in 2009 and proposed marriage after their third date. Mill and Harvick married shortly before Evert and Norman separated after only 15 months of marriage. Harvick, whom Mill also describes as his best friend, enjoy such hobbies together as biking along coastlines, skiing, fishing, and bow hunting.[1]

References

Andy Mill Wikipedia


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