A place where people could come and find refuge, could improve their lives
Les Mills, a New Zealand athlete who carried his nation's flag at two Olympic opening ceremonies, died Monday at 91, leaving behind not only a record of competitive achievement across four Games but a fitness philosophy that would eventually reach a hundred countries. What began in 1968 as a single cramped Auckland gym — so modest it alternated changing rooms by gender — grew into a global enterprise built on the idea that movement, music, and community belong together. His life traced an arc from personal loss in childhood to athletic distinction, civic leadership as Auckland's mayor, and a quiet conviction that the gym could be a place of refuge as much as exertion.
- A man who had competed on the world's grandest athletic stages turned his ambitions inward after 1972, betting that group exercise set to music could become something far larger than a local novelty.
- The branded fitness classes he pioneered — BodyPump, BodyAttack — disrupted the solitary, equipment-focused gym culture and replaced it with choreographed communal energy that spread continent by continent.
- His son Phillip carried the enterprise across borders, transforming a family gym into Les Mills International, now operating in 100 countries and redefining what a fitness brand could be.
- Even after the business scaled globally, the founding vision remained intimate: a place where people could find health, community, and refuge — a standard Phillip suggested the world still hasn't fully met.
Les Mills, born in Auckland in November 1934, lost his father at eleven and found his footing on the track-and-field circuit. He competed in the shot put and discus across four Olympic Games from 1960 to 1972, reaching seventh place at Tokyo in 1964, and was twice chosen to carry New Zealand's flag at opening ceremonies — a rare honor that spoke to his standing in his country's sporting life. In 1966, he claimed gold in the discus at the Commonwealth Games, the high-water mark of his athletic career.
In 1968, while still competing, Mills opened a small gym in Auckland — a single room so cramped it alternated between men's and women's changing hours. From that unlikely beginning, he began experimenting with group aerobics classes set to driving music, giving them branded identities like BodyPump and BodyAttack. The format proved contagious. His son Phillip eventually took the concept international, building Les Mills International into an operation spanning 100 countries and making the family name synonymous with high-energy group fitness.
Mills did not retreat from public life after sport. He served as national sports director for Papua New Guinea from 1974 to 1976, shepherding the country through its first Olympic participation. He coached New Zealand's track team and guided discus thrower Beatrice Faumuina to a world title in 1997. From 1990 to 1998, he served as mayor of Auckland, earning honors including a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
He is survived by his son Phillip and daughter Donna — both Commonwealth Games competitors themselves — along with grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In reflecting on his father's legacy, Phillip returned to something simple: the gym, at its best, was meant to be a refuge, a place to grow healthier and find community. It was a vision, Phillip noted, the world could still use more of.
Les Mills, the New Zealand shot-putter and discus thrower who carried his country's flag into two Olympic opening ceremonies, died on Monday at 91. What began as a cramped gym in Auckland with a single changing room—so small it had to alternate between men and women on different days—became a fitness operation that reached into 100 countries and reshaped how millions of people exercise.
Leslie Roy Mills was born in November 1934 in Auckland. His father, who ran butcher shops, died when Les was 11, leaving him to chart his own path. He became a serious track-and-field athlete, competing in the shot put and discus across four Olympic Games spanning 1960 to 1972. His best Olympic result was seventh place in the shot put at Tokyo in 1964. Twice—in 1960 and again in 1972—he was chosen to carry New Zealand's flag at the opening ceremony. In 1966, he won the discus at the Commonwealth Games, a victory that marked the peak of his athletic standing.
But Mills had other ambitions. In 1968, he opened his first gym in Auckland, a modest operation that grew into Les Mills World of Fitness. The business began experimenting with group aerobics classes set to energetic music, a format that was novel at the time. The company gave these sessions branded names—BodyPump, BodyAttack—and the model proved infectious. His son Phillip took the family enterprise and transformed it into Les Mills International, expanding it across continents and making the brand synonymous with high-energy group fitness.
After his own athletic career ended, Mills remained deeply involved in sport. From 1974 to 1976, he served as national sports director for Papua New Guinea, overseeing the country's first Olympic participation. He coached with the New Zealand track team and worked with Beatrice Faumuina, guiding her to the world discus title in 1997. He also moved into public life, serving as mayor of Auckland from 1990 to 1998. He was appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire in 1973 and later named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2002.
His wife, Colleen, died in 2005. He is survived by his son Phillip and daughter Donna, both of whom competed in track and field at the Commonwealth Games, along with four grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Les Mills International announced his death without disclosing the cause.
In a statement to RNZ, a New Zealand public broadcaster, Phillip Mills reflected on his father's vision for the gym business. "I think he saw the gym as a place where people could come and find refuge, could improve their lives and get healthier and find community," Phillip said. "And I think he would have liked to have seen a little bit more of that in the world today."
Notable Quotes
I think he saw the gym as a place where people could come and find refuge, could improve their lives and get healthier and find community.— Phillip Mills, his son, speaking to RNZ
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
How does a shot-putter end up building a global fitness company? That seems like two entirely different worlds.
It wasn't a sudden pivot. After his Olympic days ended, Mills was still thinking about athletics and health, but he saw something the sport world didn't—that ordinary people wanted to move their bodies together, in groups, with music. The gym became his second arena.
The gym was so small it had to separate men and women on different days. How did that become a worldwide operation?
His son Phillip saw what his father had built and understood how to scale it. The branded classes—BodyPump, BodyAttack—those were the innovation. They made aerobics systematic, repeatable, exportable. You could teach the same class in Auckland or Amsterdam.
Mills was also coaching Olympic athletes and running a city. He seemed to have many lives at once.
That's the pattern of his generation, maybe. You finished one thing and moved to the next. He was an athlete, then a coach, then a businessman, then a mayor. Each role fed something in him—the drive to improve, to build, to lead.
His son said he wanted to see more refuge and community in the world. Do you think the fitness empire delivered that?
In the way Mills imagined it, yes. A gym isn't just about vanity or competition. It's a place where strangers show up and move together. That's community, even if it's temporary. Whether the global version kept that spirit is another question.