Nicholas Miller (born 1 May 1993) is a British

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who specialises in the

hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

. He was the gold medallist at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

and

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

, a silver medallist at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

and the gold medal at the

2015 European Athletics U23 Championships The 2015 European Athletics U23 Championships were the 10th edition of the biennial athletics (sport), athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty-three. It was held in Tallinn, Estonia from 8 to 12 July. Medal summary ...

. He holds the British record of for the event. He represented Great Britain at the

2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2012 World Athletics U20 Championships, World Junior Championships in Athletics was an international Sport of athletics, athletics competition for athletes qualifying as Junior (athletics), juniors (born 1993 or later) which was held at the E ...

and the

2013 European Athletics U23 Championships The 2013 European Athletics U23 Championships were the 9th edition of the biennial athletics (sport), athletics competition between European athletes under the age of twenty-three. It was held in Tampere, Finland from 10 to 14 July. Russia topped ...

. He studied at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

and is a five-time

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

champion (three times in hammer, twice in

weight throw Weight throw (or Weight for distance) is a traditional strength sport and throwing event derived from ancient Scottish Highland games. Unlike its other counterpart, the Weight over bar which involves a stationary pendulum like swing for height, ...

). His personal best in the weight throw of is the British record. He is also a two-time runner-up at the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Championships.

Career

Early life and career

Born and raised in

Carlisle, Cumbria Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve castra, forts along Hadrian's ...

, he became interested in athletics after working with Jack Harper-Tarr, a

physical education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

teacher and athletics judge.Henderson, Jason (8 June 2014)
Nick Miller has sights set on Glasgow 2014
''

Athletics Weekly ''AW'' (formerly ''Athletics Weekly'') is a monthly track and field magazine published in the United Kingdom by Athletics Weekly Limited. The magazine covers news, results, fixtures, coaching and product advice for all aspects of track and field ...

''. Retrieved on 2 August 2014. Miller began training in throwing events at the local club, Border Harriers & Athletics Club, where Harper-Tarr coached.Member Insight Winter 2010
. Border Harriers (2010). Retrieved on 2 August 2014. Miller preferred

individual sports An individual is one that exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of living as an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) as a person unique from other people and possessing one's own needs or ...

and also took part in

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

, winning a national youth age-category competition. Initially, he competed in a variety of track and field throwing events, but he became increasingly interested in the

after seeing a rival youngster throw beyond sixty metres. Miller achieved this feat himself with the 5 kg implement in 2009, winning the Cumbria Schools Championships. In 2010 he won the English

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

(under-20) championships with a mark of with the 6 kg hammer. He repeated as champion the following year and also won the English Schools Championships title.Nick Miller
Power of 10. Retrieved on 2 August 2014. After finishing school, he gained an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

to study a multi-disciplinary degree at the

. 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.

Move to Oklahoma

Miller began to compete athletically for the

Oklahoma State Cowboys The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater. The program's mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates at the National ...

team and took up the

event. His throwing coach, John Baumann, had trained several Olympians, including Gia Lewis-Smallwood. Miller was runner-up at his first major college event, the 2012

indoor championships. Throwing with the senior weight implement, he set a series of personal bests at the start of the outdoor season: he threw for second at the

Texas Relays The Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays is an annual track and field competition held at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas serves as host for the event, held on either the last weekend of March or first weekend of April. E ...

, before improving to , then .Nick Miller
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2 August 2014. 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 before going on to represent Great Britain in the qualifiers at the

.Nick Miller
Oklahoma State Cowboys. Retrieved on 2 August 2014. 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 The NCAA Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship refers to one of three annual collegiate indoor track and field competitions for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association for athletes from institutions that make up its three ...

with a school record of . 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 Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

and won at the NCAA qualifier meet with a new best of . 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

, where he also ended the competition in ninth place. He improved again in the weight throw the following indoor season, culminating a new best mark of , 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 – a personal best, school record, stadium record, and Big 12 Conference record. His winning margin was more than fifteen metres. He was runner-up in the NCAA Outdoor hammer throw that year, second only to Matthias Tayala.

Commonwealth medal

He won his first senior international selection for the

2014 European Team Championships The fifth European Athletics Team Championships took place on 21 and 22 June 2014. Calendar Super League Place: Eintracht-Stadion, Braunschweig, Germany Participating countries * * * * * * * * * * * * Men's events Women ...

and placed fifth for Great Britain. A week later, he was close to his best at the

British Athletics Championships The British Athletics Championships is the premier national championship in track and field held in the United Kingdom, and are organised by British Athletics. The event has doubled as the main trials meet for international team selection for maj ...

and won his first national title with a mark of . This led to his inclusion in the English team for the

and at the event in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

he threw to take the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

behind

James Steacy James Steacy (born 29 May 1984 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) is a male hammer thrower from Canada. His personal best of 79.13 metres, achieved in May 2008 in Lethbridge, Alberta, stood as the Canadian record until 2023. He represented Canada at the ...

– 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'".Corkhill, Barney (30 July 2014)
Nick Miller: 'It is a fantastic achievement'
''Sports Mole''. Retrieved on 2 August 2014. Won gold in the hammerthrow at the 2022 commonwealth games in Birmingham

Personal bests

Hammer throw The hammer throw (HT for short) is one of the four throwing events in regular outdoor track-and-field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and Javelin throw, javelin. The hammer used in this sport is not like any of the tools a ...

– (Commonwealth Games 2018) *

Shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

– (2012) *

Weight throw Weight throw (or Weight for distance) is a traditional strength sport and throwing event derived from ancient Scottish Highland games. Unlike its other counterpart, the Weight over bar which involves a stationary pendulum like swing for height, ...

– (2014) *

Discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

– (2013) *

Javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

– (2010)

International competitions

References

External links

Nick Miller
at

British Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics o ...

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Nick 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 silver 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 21st-century English sportsmen