Nick Miller (hammer thrower)

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 at William Howard 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]

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]

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