Nick Miller (athlete)

Nick Miller
Personal information
Born (1993-05-01) May 1, 1993
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 112 kg (247 lb)
Sport
Country  United Kingdom
 England
Sport Athletics
Event(s) Hammer Throw
Medal record
European Athletics U23 Championships
2015 Tallinn Hammer throw
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
2014 Glasgow Hammer throw

Nicholas "Nick" Miller (born 1 May 1993 in Carlisle, Cumbria, England) is a British track and field athlete who specialises in the hammer throw. He was the silver medallist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the gold medal at the 2015 European Athletics U23 Championships. He holds the British record of 77.55 m (254 ft 5 in) for the event.

He represented Great Britain at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics and the 2013 European Athletics U23 Championships. He studied at Oklahoma State University and is a five-time Big 12 Conference champion (three times in hammer, twice in weight throw). His personal best in the weight throw of 23.07 m (75 ft 8 1⁄4 in) is the British record. He is also a two-time runner-up at the NCAA Championships.

Career

Early life and career

Born and raised in Carlisle, Cumbria,[1] the son of Debra Brewer and Leonard Miller,[2] he became interested in athletics after working with Jack Harper-Tarr, a physical education teacher and athletics judge.[3][4] Miller began training in throwing events at the local club, Border Harriers & Athletics Club, where Harper-Tarr coached.[5] Miller preferred individual sports and also took part in karate, winning a national youth age-category competition.[4] Initially, he competed in a variety of track and field throwing events, but he became increasingly interested in the hammer throw after seeing a rival youngster throw beyond sixty metres.[5]

Miller achieved this feat himself with the 5 kg implement in 2009, winning the Cumbria Schools Championships. In 2010 he won the English junior (under-20) championships with a mark of 66.79 m (219 ft 1 1⁄2 in) with the 6 kg hammer. He repeated as champion the following year and also won the English Schools Championships title.[6] After finishing at William Howard School, he gained an athletic scholarship to study a multi-disciplinary degree at the Oklahoma State University.[4][7] In joining the American college, he followed in the footsteps of a fellow Border Harrier, distance runner Tom Farrell, who began studying there in 2010.[8]

Move to Oklahoma

Miller began to compete athletically for the Oklahoma State Cowboys team and took up the weight throw event. His throwing coach, John Baumann, had trained several Olympians, including Gia Lewis-Smallwood.[9] Miller was runner-up at his first major college event, the 2012 Big 12 Conference indoor championships. Throwing with the senior weight implement, he set a series of personal bests at the start of the outdoor season: he threw 65.09 m (213 ft 6 1⁄2 in) for second at the Texas Relays, before improving to 66.88 m (219 ft 5 in), then 67.06 m (220 ft 0 in).[10] He was the champion of the Big 12 Outdoor Championship, becoming Oklahoma State's first conference hammer throw winner since 1901. In July that year he had another best with a mark of 67.56 m (221 ft 7 3⁄4 in) before going on to represent Great Britain in the qualifiers at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics.[2]

He established himself as a top weight thrower in the 2013 indoor season, winning the Big 12 title before placing fourth at the NCAA Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship with a school record of 21.48 m (70 ft 5 1⁄2 in). In the hammer he cleared seventy metres for the first time at the Mt. SAC Relays. He defended his Big 12 hammer title with a stadium record in Waco, Texas and won at the NCAA qualifier meet with a new best of 71.60 m (234 ft 10 3⁄4 in).[2] He gave his worst performance of the season at the NCAA Outdoor finals, finishing in ninth place with a sub-65-metre throw. He was similarly off his best at the 2013 European Athletics U23 Championships, where he also ended the competition in ninth place.[6]

He improved again in the weight throw the following indoor season, culminating a new best mark of 23.07 m (75 ft 8 1⁄4 in), which brought him second place at the NCAA Indoor Championships and a British record. He also defended his Big 12 indoor title that season. He won a third straight Big 12 outdoor hammer title with a throw of 74.38 m (244 ft 0 1⁄4 in) – a personal best, school record, stadium record, and Big 12 Conference record. His winning margin was more than fifteen metres.[11] He was runner-up in the NCAA Outdoor hammer throw that year, second only to Matthias Tayala.[12]

Commonwealth medal

He won his first senior international selection for the 2014 European Team Championships and placed fifth for Great Britain.[6] A week later, he was close to his best at the UK Athletics Championships and won his first national title with a mark of 73.96 m (242 ft 7 3⁄4 in).[13] This led to his inclusion in the English team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and at the event in Glasgow he threw 72.99 m (239 ft 5 1⁄2 in) to take the silver medal behind James Steacy – Miller's first international medal. In spite of this, Miller held some disappointment at losing to Steacy by a margin of just over a metre.[14]

Personal bests

International competition record

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
2012 World Junior Championships Barcelona, Spain 13th (q) Hammer throw (6 kg) 67.46 m
2013 European U23 Championships Tampere, Finland 9th Hammer throw 66.64 m
2014 European Team Championships Braunschweig, Germany 5th Hammer throw 73.56 m
Commonwealth Games Glasgow, United Kingdom 2nd Hammer throw 72.99 m
2015 European U23 Championships Tallinn, Estonia 1st Hammer throw 74.46 m
World Championships Beijing, China 11th Hammer throw 72.94 m
2016 European Championships Amsterdam, Netherlands 25th (q) Hammer throw 67.76 m
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 22nd (q) Hammer throw 70.83 m

References

  1. ↑ Nicholas Miller. Glasgow2014. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Nick Miller. Oklahoma State Cowboys. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
  3. ↑ Jack Harper-Tarr Obituary. Cumberland News (22 April 2011). Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 Henderson, Jason (8 June 2014). Nick Miller has sights set on Glasgow 2014. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
  5. 1 2 Member Insight Winter 2010. Border Harriers (2010). Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
  6. 1 2 3 Nick Miller. Power of 10. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
  7. ↑ Little, Amanda (8 July 2014). Carlisle hammer thrower Nick Miller on food, fitness, his American dream and going for gold. News and Star. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
  8. ↑ Nick Miller Throws His Weight Around. TrackBoundUSA. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
  9. ↑ John Baumann. Oklahoma State Cowboys. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
  10. ↑ Nick Miller. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
  11. ↑ Miller Cruises To Third Big 12 Hammer Title. Oklahoma State Cowboys (14 May 2014). Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
  12. ↑ Miller Claims Second Place In NCAA Hammer. Oklahoma State Cowboys (12 June 2014). Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
  13. ↑ Miller Takes Hammer Throw Title at British Championships. Oklahoma State Cowboys (28 June 2014). Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
  14. ↑ Corkhill, Barney (30 July 2014). Nick Miller: 'It is a fantastic achievement'. Sports Mole. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
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