His spirit lives on in gym workouts around the world
Les Mills, the New Zealand Olympian who threw discus and shot put across four Games, died this week at 91 — a man whose life unfolded in distinct chapters, each one a quiet argument that a person need not be defined by a single calling. He opened a gym in Auckland in 1968 with his wife Colleen, and what began as a modest local venture grew into a global fitness movement that changed how millions of people move together. Athlete, entrepreneur, mayor, coach — he wore each role with the same underlying conviction: that human potential, whether in sport, business, or community, is worth cultivating.
- A four-time Olympian and Commonwealth gold medalist, Mills carried the weight of genuine athletic greatness before most people had heard his name in any other context.
- The 1968 decision to open a gym on Victoria Street was quiet at the time, but it set in motion a disruption of how the world understood group exercise — choreography, music, and community replacing solitary effort.
- His son Phillip's arrival in the business in 1980 accelerated everything, transforming a single Auckland gym into a franchise spanning continents and reshaping the global fitness industry.
- Even after leaving competitive sport, Mills refused stillness — serving as Auckland mayor through a decade of urban change, then coaching discus thrower Beatrice Faumuina to world and Commonwealth titles.
- At 91, he leaves behind not a monument but a living institution: a family-run brand operating in gyms worldwide, still carrying the original conviction that fitness should be accessible, social, and worth loving.
Les Mills, the New Zealand shot putter and discus thrower who competed at four Olympic Games, died this week at 91. His name, however, had long since outgrown the athletics track. In 1968, he and his wife Colleen opened a gym on Victoria Street in central Auckland — a modest beginning that neither could have foreseen would reshape how people exercise across the globe.
His athletic record was genuine and substantial. Competing between 1960 and 1972, Mills won five Commonwealth Games medals, including discus gold at the 1966 Games in Kingston, Jamaica. But where many athletes struggle to find purpose after competition ends, Mills discovered a second life entirely. The gym grew, and when his son Phillip joined the business in 1980, the enterprise transformed. Working with his partner Jackie, Phillip developed the music-driven, choreographed group-fitness model that would become the company's signature — a format that sounds unremarkable today only because it became so widely imitated.
In the 1990s, Mills entered local politics, serving as Auckland mayor from 1990 to 1998. Former council colleague Juliet Yates remembered him as a unifier — someone skilled at drawing people together toward shared goals. After leaving office, he returned to sport as a coach, helping New Zealand's Beatrice Faumuina claim the world discus title in 1997 and Commonwealth gold in 1998.
Honors followed across the decades — an MBE in 1973, a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002 — but perhaps the more enduring recognition is simpler: his name appears on gym timetables in cities from London to New York to Sydney, every week, without ceremony. His son Phillip said after his death that his father's spirit lives on in those workouts, still helping people fall in love with fitness. The family continues to run the business he founded, carrying forward a vision that was always, at its core, about making movement something people could share.
Les Mills, the New Zealand shot putter and discus thrower who represented his country at four Olympic Games, died this week at 91. But his name lives on in gyms across the world—not because of medals or political office, though he earned both, but because of a single decision made in 1968: to open a gym on Victoria Street in central Auckland with his wife, Colleen.
That modest beginning became something neither of them could have predicted. The Les Mills gym grew into an international fitness brand, one that fundamentally changed how people exercise in groups. The business became known for choreographed classes set to music—a model that sounds ordinary now but was revolutionary then. Today, decades later, Les Mills workouts are used in clubs around the world, a quiet testament to the vision of a man who spent his first life as an athlete and his second building something that would outlast him.
Mills was born Leslie Roy Mills in Auckland in 1934. His athletic career was substantial. Between 1960 and 1972, he competed at four Olympic Games. He won five Commonwealth Games medals, including gold in the discus at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. These were genuine achievements, the kind that mark a life. But after his competitive years ended, Mills did something many athletes struggle with: he found a second act.
His son Phillip joined the business full-time in 1980, bringing his own vision to the enterprise. Working with his partner Jackie, Phillip developed the music-driven group-fitness model that would become central to the company's global expansion. The family business evolved from a single gym into a franchise operation that spread across continents. What had started as a local Auckland venture became a name recognized in fitness centers from London to Sydney to New York.
Mills's life took another turn in the 1990s when he entered local politics. He served as mayor of Auckland from 1990 to 1998, a period when the city was reshaping itself. Juliet Yates, who served on Auckland Council during his tenure, remembered him as someone who could bring people together. "He was a very pleasant person to work with," she said. "He was really good at bringing people together and achieving things for the benefit of the city." Even after stepping away from the mayor's office, Mills remained active in sport as a coach, helping guide New Zealand discus thrower Beatrice Faumuina to the world title in 1997 and Commonwealth Games gold in 1998.
The honors accumulated over time. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1973 for services to sport, and a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002 for services to local government and sport. These recognitions marked a life lived in service—first to athletic excellence, then to business, then to his city, and always, according to his son, to helping others.
Phillip Mills released a statement after his father's death. "Dad was immensely strong, driven, and always cared deeply for the less advantaged," he said. "He left a lasting impression on everyone he met, and his spirit lives on in gym workouts around the world, continuing to help people fall in love with fitness." The business that bears his name continues to be run by later generations of the Mills family, ensuring that the vision—making fitness accessible, making it social, making it something people could love—persists. In that sense, Les Mills never really left the gym.
Citas Notables
Dad was immensely strong, driven, and always cared deeply for the less advantaged. He left a lasting impression on everyone he met, and his spirit lives on in gym workouts around the world.— Phillip Mills, his son
He was really good at bringing people together and achieving things for the benefit of the city.— Juliet Yates, former Auckland Council member
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
What made him decide to open a gym in 1968? Was it just a natural next step after his athletic career?
It seems like it was, though the source doesn't spell out his exact thinking. He'd competed at four Olympics, won Commonwealth medals—he knew sport intimately. Opening a gym was a way to stay in that world but shift from competing to building something.
And then his son Phillip came in and changed everything?
Not changed everything—refined it. Phillip and his partner Jackie took what was a local gym and figured out how to make group fitness work at scale. They added music, choreography, structure. That's what made it exportable.
So the father built the foundation, and the son built the empire?
In a way. But Les stayed involved. He was coaching world-class athletes into the 1990s. He wasn't someone who just handed things off and disappeared.
What about his time as mayor? That seems like a strange detour for a businessman.
Not really a detour—more like a parallel track. He was in his fifties when he became mayor. By then the gym was established. He seemed to care about the city itself, not just his business. People remembered him as someone who brought people together.
And he kept coaching while he was mayor?
Yes. He helped Beatrice Faumuina win a world title and Commonwealth gold. He was someone who couldn't stop being involved in sport, even when he was running a city.
So what's his actual legacy? The gym, the politics, the coaching?
All of it, but mainly the gym. That's what outlasted him. The business is still running, still using his name, still spreading his idea about fitness around the world. That's what his son emphasized—that his spirit lives on in those workouts.