Les Mills

Leslie Roy Mills CNZM, MBE
36th Mayor of Auckland City
In office 1990–1998
Preceded by	Catherine Tizard
Succeeded by	Christine Fletcher
Personal details
Born	1 November 1934 (1934-11-01) New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealand

Leslie ("Les") Roy Mills CNZM, MBE, (born 1 November 1934 in Auckland) is a retired New Zealand athlete, who represented New Zealand at Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games over two decades. He competed in shot put, discus and weightlifting events. At the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games he achieved his best result, a gold medal in discus.

After retiring from active competition, Mills became a gym owner in 1968 and a businessman. He was Mayor of Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, from 1990 to 1998. He gives his name to Les Mills International, a company founded by his son Phillip Mills, who developed a series of group fitness-to-music classes that are available internationally: BODYSTEP, BODYCOMBAT, BODYPUMP, BODYATTACK, BODYBALANCE (known as BODYFLOW in North America), BODYJAM, BODYVIVE, RPM, SH'BAM and CXWORX.

Athletics career

Medal record
Men's Athletics
Competitor for New Zealand
Commonwealth Games
Gold	1966 Kingston	Discus
Silver	1958 Cardiff	Discus
Silver	1966 Kingston	Shot put
Silver	1970 Edinburgh	Discus
Bronze	1970 Edinburgh	Shot put

• 1952: Wins New Zealand Junior Shot and Discus
• 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games: Discus, Silver Medal
• 1960 Summer Olympics: Captain and Flagbearer for the New Zealand Team. Placed 11th in Shot Put, and 28th in Discus.
• 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games: 5th place Discus, 6th place Shot.
• 1964 Summer Olympics: 7th place Shot.
• 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games: Gold Medal Discus, Silver Medal Shot Put
• 1968 Summer Olympics: Competed injured, 11th place Shot
• 1970 British Commonwealth Games: Discus Silver Medal, Shot Put Bronze Medal.
• 1972 Summer Olympics: 14th place Discus, 23rd Shot Put.
• 1974–1976 National Sports Director of Papua New Guinea.
• 1977–1979 First Director of Coaching in Athletics for New Zealand.
• 1978 Commonwealth Games New Zealand Coach.

He also has trained New Zealand throwers, such as Beatrice Faumuina.

Personal bests

Event	Distance	Place	Date
Discus	61.52 m		1971
Shot put	19.80 m	Honolulu	1967

Mills's personal best for the shot put was a New Zealand national record for 44 years, until 16-year-old Jacko Gill broke it on 23 April 2011 with a throw of 20.01 m

Mayor of Auckland City

Mills served as the Mayor of Auckland City between 1990 and 1998. His Mayoral term commenced with a by-election in 1990 after the resignation of Dame Catherine Tizard, who had been appointed Governor-General. The new council had been formed following local body amalgamation in 1989 which saw many of the district borough councils merged into one larger city. Mills' first term oversaw the merger of these many district boroughs into one city. The Aotea Centre was also opened at the beginning of his term. Other initiatives which commenced on Mills' watch as Mayor included the introduction of the green "wheelie bins", metered user charges for water use, council assets like golf courses were leased to private management, and the city also quit some assets that no longer were of priority, like its abattoir.

Other major events during Mills' tenure included work commencing on the America's Cup Village at the Auckland viaduct, the commencement and opening of the Sky Tower and Casino complex that now dominates the Auckland skyline, the redevelopment of the Civic theatre, and refurbishment of the Auckland Town Hall.

During this period, the 1998 Auckland power crisis occurred, which shut down most of the inner city. Mills' Britomart Transport Centre plans also came under some criticism as being too focused on property development and not enough on transport. His successor Christine Fletcher led plans for a scaled down Britomart Station without the large property development plans.

Mills was defeated in a three way contest between himself, businessman Richard Holden and eventual winner Christine Fletcher in 1998. Mills himself was absent for most of the election campaign, leading the New Zealand team at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, and mentoring the gold medal winning discus thrower Beatrice Faumuina.

Gym and exercise programs

See also: Les Mills International

Mills founded a gym Les Mills World of Fitness, now a chain of gyms within New Zealand, and his son Philip Mills has developed a series of ten choreographed, fitness-to-music programs, which are distributed worldwide.

External links

• Les Mills Fitness Programs
• Les Mills International (USA) homepage
• Les Mills International (Australia) homepage
• Les Mills in the UK
• Les Mills International (China) homepage
• Profile at New Zealand Commonwealth Games website

Preceded by Catherine Tizard

Mayor of Auckland City 1990–1998

Succeeded by Christine Fletcher