Nick Miller (hammer thrower)
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Born | 1 May 1993 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 112 kg (247 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Country | ![]() ![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Hammer Throw | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Nicholas Miller (born 1 May 1993) is a British track and field athlete who specialises in the hammer throw. He was the gold medallist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 2022 Commonwealth Games, a silver medallist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and the gold medal at the 2015 European Athletics U23 Championships. He holds the British record of 80.26 m (263 ft 3+3⁄4 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
[edit]Early life and career
[edit]Born and raised in Carlisle, Cumbria,[1] he became interested in athletics after working with Jack Harper-Tarr, a physical education teacher and athletics judge.[2][3] Miller began training in throwing events at the local club, Border Harriers & Athletics Club, where Harper-Tarr coached.[4] Miller preferred individual sports and also took part in karate, winning a national youth age-category competition.[3] 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.[4]
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.[5] After finishing school, he gained an athletic scholarship to study a multi-disciplinary degree at the Oklahoma State University.[3][6] 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.[7]
Move to Oklahoma
[edit]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.[8] 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).[9] 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.[10]
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).[10] 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.[5]
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 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
[edit]He won his first senior international selection for the 2014 European Team Championships and placed fifth for Great Britain.[5] A week later, he was close to his best at the British 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 said "a little bit of me is a bit upset I didn't win but part of me is just 'what a fantastic achievement'".[14] Won gold in the hammerthrow at the 2022 commonwealth games in Birmingham
Personal bests
[edit]- Hammer throw – 80.26 m (263 ft 3+3⁄4 in) (Commonwealth Games 2018)
- Shot put – 11.92 m (39 ft 1+1⁄4 in) (2012)
- Weight throw – 23.07 m (75 ft 8+1⁄4 in) (2014)
- Discus throw – 45.37 m (148 ft 10 in) (2013)
- Javelin throw – 52.54 m (172 ft 4+1⁄2 in) (2010)
International competitions
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Nicholas Miller. Glasgow2014. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
- ^ Jack Harper-Tarr Obituary. Cumberland News (22 April 2011). Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
- ^ a b c Henderson, Jason (8 June 2014). Nick Miller has sights set on Glasgow 2014. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
- ^ a b Member Insight Winter 2010 Archived 8 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine. Border Harriers (2010). Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
- ^ a b c Nick Miller. Power of 10. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Nick Miller Throws His Weight Around. TrackBoundUSA. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
- ^ John Baumann. Oklahoma State Cowboys. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
- ^ Nick Miller. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
- ^ a b Nick Miller. Oklahoma State Cowboys. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
- ^ Miller Cruises To Third Big 12 Hammer Title. Oklahoma State Cowboys (14 May 2014). Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
- ^ Miller Claims Second Place In NCAA Hammer. Oklahoma State Cowboys (12 June 2014). Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
- ^ Miller Takes Hammer Throw Title at British Championships. Oklahoma State Cowboys (28 June 2014). Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
- ^ Corkhill, Barney (30 July 2014). Nick Miller: 'It is a fantastic achievement'. Sports Mole. Retrieved on 2 August 2014.
External links
[edit]- Nick Miller at British Athletics
- Nick Miller at World Athletics
- Nick Miller at Team GB
- Nick Miller at Olympics.com
- Nick Miller at Olympedia
- Nick Miller at Team England
- Nick Miller at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (archived)
- Living people
- 1993 births
- Sportspeople from Carlisle, Cumbria
- Track and field athletes from Oklahoma
- English male hammer throwers
- British male hammer throwers
- Olympic male hammer throwers
- Olympic athletes for Great Britain
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England
- Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics
- Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
- World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain
- British Athletics Championships winners
- Oklahoma State Cowboys track and field athletes
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
- Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
- Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
- NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners