Ex-England star Danny Mills’ son now one of fastest mile runners in UK history
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Danny Mills is far from the only member of his household to do his country proud in the field of sports.
The former Leeds and Manchester City defender represented England at the 2002 World Cup and earned 19 caps for the Three Lions over just three years. And so George is now making waves of his own on Great Britain's behalf after impressing in the final leg of the 2023 Diamond League.
The blockbuster athletics competition came to a close this weekend in Eugene, Oregon, where Mills Jr celebrated a superb finish to the season by running a personal best in the mile run. And his time of three minutes and 47.65 seconds clinched two types of bronzes, finishing third on the day as well as going down as the third-fastest mile ever run by a Brit.
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Only British athletics legends Steve Cram and Seb Coe – now president of the IAAF – have clocked faster times over a mile (officially 1,609.344 metres). And a humble Mills said he was 'pretty happy with the series of races he'd managed to put together' to round out his year.
It would have taken a Herculean effort to beat those ahead of him, with Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen breaking Cram's European record – which was set in 1985 – by almost three whole seconds with a winning time of 3:43.73. Yared Nuguse finished a little more than two tenths of a second behind to take silver, smashing the U.S. record along the way.
"Third in a Diamond League final behind both – I think it was Jakob and Yared – so yeah, who's to complain? Those are two world-class athletes," replied Mills when asked if he was happy with his place in Oregon. "Probably two of the best ever."
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The 24-year-old went on to note that finishing four seconds off that pace 'isn't where he wants to be', but that pill is infinitely easier to swallow considering Ingebrigtsen and Nuguse ran the third and fourth fastest miles of all time on Saturday. Ingebrigtsen in particular has emerged in recent years as a generation talent over middle and long-distance events, meaning Mills can take a great deal of confidence from another PB performance.
"What a final few weeks of the season for George Mills," wrote Mills Sr on Instagram in admiration of his son following the Diamond League climax. "Hard Work, Dedication, #millsmentality a fantastic team put together by ON [in which Roger Federer in an investor] & brilliant training partners!!"
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The son of ex-Lion Danny once had dreams of following in his father's footsteps and becoming a football himself. However, he's putting his pegs to great use in a different field, while 19-year-old brother Stanley is on the books at Everton (though he's currently earning experience on loan at Oxford).
"I used to watch videos of him all of the time as a kid," George told the Daily Mail earlier this year when asked about his dad's football legacy. "Not so much anymore, but he occasionally gets a few clips out!
"Football was my first love. I had a couple of academy trials, but it's a very hard sport to make it in. Fortunately, I found running and I wouldn't change it for the world."
And neither would British athletics fans if his latest demonstration is anything to go by, with Great Britain onto another promising talent from good sporting stock. Those same supporters may have a chance at catching the former 1,500 metres British champion at next year's Paris Olympics, where Mills could look to close the gap on Ingebrigtsen & Co.
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