Letter of the Day | Lennox Miller – athletics’ unsung hero

THE EDITOR, Madam:

The list of Jamaican athletes and their achievements is indelibly etched in the annals of sports, as well as in the psyche of Jamaican people. The Olympics, seen as the gold standard of track and field competition, is the stage on which Jamaica has consistently made its most forceful impact.

Among the Jamaican male athletes who made their mark at these prestigious games, the names of McKenley, Wint, Rhoden, Quarrie, Bolt, Blake, and now Thompson, come readily to mind.

For any athlete to make the final eight of any Olympic event is in itself a remarkable feat, made even more remarkable when achieved by an athlete from a country as small as Jamaica.

Against this background, we need to throw the spotlight on ‘undersung hero’ Lennox ‘Billy’ Miller, who, in the estimation of many of us, is one of Jamaica’s greatest athletes, yet consistently among the least mentioned by sportswriters and analysts.

Miller’s story really began to unfold in 1963 when he was the Class One 100 and 200 metres champion for three consecutive years, till 1965, at Champs, placing him among the ‘immortals’.

In the 1968 Mexico Olympics when the US athletes were dominating the 100 metres, with the possibility of a clean sweep, Miller, against the odds, won the silver medal in 10.00 seconds, just behind Jim Hines, who clocked 9.90 seconds, leaving in his wake the highly favoured Charlie Greene. This was the only medal won by Jamaica.

Come the 1972 Munich Olympics, the US were again the odds-on favourites, along with Russia’s Borzov, for the 100 metres.

In the meantime, plagued by injuries throughout the year, with only sporadic glimpses of his former self, Miller was not among the expected medallists, even if he did advance to the final.

Showing the grit of a champion, ‘our boy’ was observed grinding his way to the final, which, unfortunately missed by two Americans, was no less challenging for Miller, as all the finalists were closely matched.

Heavily strapped, and presumably in agony, our hero lined up with the seven other finalists, which, incidentally, included our own Michael Fray, awaiting starting orders.

The rest is history, the wounded lion won bronze medal; again, the only medal won by Jamaica, with a fast-finishing Fray in fifth place.

Through his collegiate and his post-Olympic years, and while competing at the highest level, Miller attained a degree in psychology and graduated from dental school at the University of Southern California, where he practised for approximately 30 years.

What greater story could we use as an inspirational and motivational tool to our up-and-coming athletes, one which depicts the essence of perseverance, grit and a never-say-die spirit, than that of Lennox ‘Billy’ Miller?

I implore our journalists and more of our coaches to take serious note.

TREVOR BAILEY