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Shannon Miller was born on March 10, 1977 in Rolla, Missouri. She trained at Dynamo Gymnastics with Steven Nunno during her club career.
Shannon saw her first international competition in 1988. At the Junior Pan Am Games in Puerto Rico she took second all-around and third on bars. In 1989, Shannon competed as a junior international elite. At the US Olympic Sports Festival, acting as Nationals for juniors, she took third all-around and first on bars. Shannon finished up her season by finished sixth all-around at the International Junior Competition in Yokohama.
Shannon started her season in 1990 at the American Cup. In Fairfax, she finished sixth all-around in the preliminaries. Her next meet was the International Mixed Pairs in Villanova, Pennsylvania. Tom Schlesinger and Shannon did not do very well. At the American Classic in Arizona, Shannon finished second all-around and first on beam and floor. Shannon competed at quite a few meets before the National Championships. She finished ninth all-around at the Canadian Cup in Toronto.
At the Pyramid Challenge she finished seventh all-around. Shannon finished sixth at the McDonald's Challenge, a dual between the USA and USSR. She also found time to travel to Catania Cup in Italy. Shannon took home first on everything except bars, which she was second. At the National Championships Shannon finished eighth all-around.
1991 was a great year for Shannon. At the American Cup in Orlando, Florida, she finished third all-around. Due to the two per country rule she could not advance to finals. At the International Mixed Pairs Event Shannon and Patrick Kirksey finished ninth all-around. Shannon finished second all-around at the US Classic. She traveled south to Houston for the USA against Romania meet. She finished first on beam and third all-around. At Nationals Shannon finished seventh all-around. However, she took home the gold on beam. At the World Team Trials, Shannon finished fourth all-around and made the world team.
Shannon had a great performance at Worlds, but was overshadowed by Kim Zmeskal. She finished sixth all-around, fourth on floor, and sixth on vault and beam. Shannon won two silvers, one for the team and one on bars. After Worlds she competed at three meets in Europe. At the Swiss Cup, Shannon and Scott Keswick took home first place. Shannon then swept the gold medals at the Arthur Gander Memorial. Her final meet of the season was the DTB Pokal in Germany. Shannon finished third all-around, third on vault, second on bars and first on floor.
In 1992, she finally made American Cup finals, finishing third. At the International Mixed Pairs meet, Shannon and Scott Keswick took home the title. An unfortunate dislocated elbow kept Shannon from competing optionals at the US National Championships. However, she did win compulsories. At the Olympic Trials, Shannon finished first all-around. Shannon's time to shine came at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. Shannon started off her meet by helping the USA team win bronze. She then took home the silver in the all-around. Shannon took home the bronze on bars and floor and the silver on beam. She was also sixth in vault finals.
In 1993, Shannon's career took itself to a new level. Shannon took fourth all-around with lance Ringnald at the International Mixed Pairs in Atlanta. At the American Cup, she won all of the titles except for beam. Shannon took home the Olympic Festival gold on every event except for bars. At the World Championships she became the second US female to win the all-around title. Shannon also won golds on bars and floor. Before Nationals, Shannon won the Hilton Challenge all-around title. At Nationals, she won the all-around, bars and floor titles.
Her 1994 season went very well. Shannon repeated her World all-around title win. She also took home the beam gold. At the Budget Invitational, Shannon finished first all-around. At the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, she finished second all-around, first on beam and floor. At the US National Championships, Shannon took home all five silvers.
In 1995, Shannon did not advance to the American Cup finals. At the American Classic, Shannon finished first all-around. She won the all-around title, bars and floor titles at the Pan Am Games in Argentina. At Nationals, Shannon took home the silver in the all-around. However, Shannon also won the gold on vault. At the World Team Trials she finished second all-around. A sprained ankle hindered her performance at Worlds. She took home a bronze with the team.
1996 was an Olympic year. Shannon won the all-around title at Nationals. She petitioned on to the Olympic Team because of a wrist injury. At the Olympic Games, Shannon finished first on beam. She was also a member of the gold medal winning women's team. In 1997, Shannon competed in a few professional meets. At the Reese's Cup, Shannon won the all-around title with Amy Chow. At the International 3 on 3, Meaghan Muller, John Roethlisberger and Shannon took third. Her last meet was the World University Games in Italy. She took home the all-around title.
In 2000, Shannon decided to make a comeback. At the Mississauga Gymnastics Challenge she won the vault title. At Nationals, Shannon took home the silver on bars. She retired after finished sixth at the 2001 Reese's Cup. Shannon is currently in law school.
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Fast Facts
Name: Shannon Miller
Birthday: May 10, 1977
Club: Dynamo
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MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS
Most Decorated USA Gymnast
2000: Olympic Trials Particpant
1996: Olympic Beam and Team Champion
1996: US National Champion
1994: World Champion
1993: US National Champion
1993: World Champion
1992: Olympic Games- Five Medals
1991: World Championship Medalist
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Photos © Lloyd Smith
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