Samuel Mikulak was born on October 13, 1992 in Corona del Mar, California. Mikulak was named to the USA Men's Olympic Team on July 1, 2012 despite an ankle injury that kept him from competing in all but one event on night two of the trials. Mikulak also competed for the University of Michigan from 2011 to 2014 where he won seven NCAA tiles. Mikulak was named to his second Olympic team in 2016.