Catching up with Shannon Miller

Seven-time Olympic medalist Shannon Miller will be inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. John Iacono/SI

On June 9, Shannon Miller, the most decorated gymnast in U.S. history, will join UCLA softball coach Sue Enquist, former LPGA golfer Hisako Higuchi and Algerian track star Hassiba Boulmerka as the latest class of inductees into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. Miller will also be part of this year's U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame class in the team category along with her "Magnificent Seven" teammates, the first U.S. women's gymnastics team to win Olympic gold. The class will be inducted June 19. Below, SI.com catches up with the 31-year-old Miller:

SI.com: You're really racking up a lot of Hall of Fame honors?

Miller: I know. It's a little ridiculous but it's very much an honor each time. What's different about the Women's Sports Hall of Fame is that it's women athletes and supported by the Women's Sports Foundation.

SI.com: Do you know any of your fellow inductees?

Miller: I have not met any of them, but I'm excited about meeting them and seeing 100 of the greatest sports figures of all time who will be at the dinner. It should be a great night. It just reinforces everything about women and sports and how we come in all shapes, sizes and from all different backgrounds with different goals. Athletics is the one thing that gives us all that bond.

SI.com: Who is a female athlete today that you really appreciate?

Miller: There are a lot of them. Some of the more obscure sports are interesting to me. I did some events with weightlifter Cheryl Hayworth. It was wonderful, and really important to have children understand that here's a gymnast and a weightlifter, and we're both doing something that we are passionate about but have two completely body types. I also follow the WNBA, the soccer girls and softball. Those are team sports and lifetime sports, whereas gymnastics has a cutoff limit where you need to stop flipping around. I've also gotten into women's golf.

SI.com: Are you any good?

Miller: Some days it's not so much playing and just hacking up the ground. But I love it because it's lifetime sport and it's outdoors, which is very different from what I spent my life doing. I try very hard not to decide what my handicap is. I play a ton of scrambles, and when my husband and I play we don't usually keep score.

SI.com: Most people don't know you graduated from law school, right?

Miller: I ended up graduating with a degree from Boston College last May. Like most things with me, I didn't do law school the way most people do. The fall semester of my last two years I ended up taking off for work, including an Olympic tour. So that broke it up for me, which was nice in some ways because it gave me a bit of a breather. But it was also difficult because you then came back not knowing anyone in your class. I loved law school. Obviously, it was a lot of hard work. The first year, I was just scared to death. You are reading everything and doing everything and probably doing 10 times more than you needed to do. By the third year I was a little more relaxed with what to expect. You learn that there are times where you will be completely embarrassed and that you'll live through it.

SI.com: What was your most memorable law school class?

Miller: Civil procedure in my first year. The professor was great and a lot of fun but it was also terrifying. It was a mix of "I really want to go this class because I enjoy listening to the professor" but also knowing any day he was going to choose your name out of a hat and that it was time for you to get drilled. It was anxiety every day. I was someone, who as a kid was very shy and hid in the back of the classroom, so for me it was a huge leap to be called on and grilled in front of everyone. I'm sure in my mind I blew it out of proportion, like I'd be on the news the next day because I could not answer a question in law school.

SI.com: You passed the class?

Miller: I did, yes (laughs).

SI.com: Will you take the bar?

Miller: If I took the bar, it would be in Florida because that's where I reside now. But I haven't decided whether I will take it. I don't plan on practicing law. I got into law school so I could run a better business. I started a couple of my own businesses and also have a non-profit foundation [The Shannon Miller Foundation]. Law school was really good background for business, for reading contracts and those sorts of things. I do a lot of motivational speaking about health and fitness, goal setting and leadership.

SI.com: Who is the last person in gymnastics you would want to see on the bench if you were arguing a case as a lawyer?

Miller: Bella Karoyi, because I may not understand what he tells me.

SI.com: How do you spend most days?

Miller: I am usually on a plane every three days. There is motivational speaking, and I also host my own television show out of Philadelphia called Gymnastics 360 with Shannon Miller. It's on CN-8 (Comcast). I do everything from giving clinics to kids and summer camp. Next year I'm doing a gymnastics summer camp at sea.

SI.com: Will you be in Beijing?

Miller: I'll have a multitude of duties during the Games, but I don't know if I'll be in China yet. I may be broadcasting from the U.S. or doing Internet stuff or working in hospitality for a company.

SI.com: You won seven Olympic medals (two golds, two silvers and three bronze) during your Olympic career. Is there a moment that stands out above the others?

Miller: For me there are two moments. One would obviously be the night of the 1996 team competition when we won the gold medal. Standing up there with all my teammates, receiving a gold medal and watching the flag raised was incredible. The other moment that I'll never forget was the exact moment that my feet hit the ground on that balance beam dismount in Atlanta. It was my last routine of my last Olympics and I finally hit it. That moment was the culmination of everything I had worked so hard for and everything that my coaches and parents had sacrificed for me. At that moment, everything came together.

SI.com: How often do you stay in touch with your teammates from the 1996 team?

Miller: I see them a little bit. Jaycie Phelps was in my wedding last year. Dominique Dawes and I see each other at different events and we were roommates at the World Championships and Olympic Games. Some of the others I see off and on at different functions. We all kind of stay in touch with email and text [messages]. Amy Chow is the one we don't see as quite as often because she is in medical school.

SI.com: What should people expect from the American female gymnasts in Bejiing?

Miller: Shawn Johnson is No. 1 in the world right now. Nastia Liukin has recovered from her injuries and is looking strong. Those two will be neck and neck for the U.S. If we still stay healthy, we will have a strong team. But the Romanians Steliana Nistor and Vanessa Ferrari are amazing.

SI.com: How should Olympic fans remember you?

Miller: I hope that Olympic fans would remember me as someone who was extremely passionate about the sport I loved. Win or lose, I was always passionate and in the game.