Despite an impressive fifth-place finish at the Olympic Trials, Christian Miller was not selected for the U.S. Track and Field team’s 4×100 relay pool.
ST. JOHN’S, Fla. — It doesn’t seem fair.
Christian Miller went to the Olympic Trials in Track and Field with a clear goal in mind, but he didn’t finish in the top three in the 100 meters and thus missed out on an automatic spot on the Olympic team.
Miller and his coach, Ricky Fields, knew the 18-year-old wasn’t going to make it into the top three. Though he’d just graduated from Creekside High School in St. Johns County and already had a long list of impressive track accolades, this stage was a little different.
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“When I was in the finals, lined up with all these past world champions and Olympians, it was a crazy moment because I looked at all of them and thought they were amazing,” Miller said. First Coast News“So it was surprising to think that I was in the same line as them.”
But a top six finish was well within reach for Miller.
“If we finish in the top six, we qualify for the relay,” Fields said.
So they set out to make it happen and let the results be what they were.
Miller qualified for the 100-meter final, finishing fifth, and the following week, he and his coach quietly celebrated: He was named the Gatorade National Boys Track and Field Player of the Year, the first athlete from Northeast Florida in any sport to do so.
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But this time, what Miller and his family were hoping for was a call from the U.S. team. But no call came.
Miller finished in the top five, and when the U.S. team selected six athletes for the 4x100m pool to compete in the relay race in Paris, he was not selected. For him and those around him, fairness was never a consideration.
“It’s one thing for the top three guys to beat him,” Fields said, “but other guys have beaten him on the track this year, some multiple times.”
The U.S. Track and Field team has several criteria for selecting relay teams — in this case, it’s the team that ultimately gets to go to Paris — and one of those criteria is a high finish at the Olympic Trials, and we know Miller achieved that by placing fifth.
But world rankings come into play, and Miller isn’t ranked as highly as some of the pros because he hasn’t competed in professional events. He plans to run at the University of Georgia in the fall and will maintain his amateur status.
Team USA also takes into account how many athletes have competed in professional relay races, something Miller, given his age and stature, did not have.
But as it turned out, Miller did everything he was supposed to do: run the trials, finish under 10 seconds and finish in the top five.
But like many things in life, this wasn’t a fair outcome.
If Miller was upset, that was understandable and expected.
But he wasn’t. In fact, Miller was quite calm and said, First Coast News Speaking about the possibility of being left off the U.S. national team, he said his faith gives him confidence.
“God led me to this position, fifth place in the relay,” Miller said, “so if that was part of God’s plan, he ended up selecting me in the relay and you’ll see me again in Paris. But if that wasn’t God’s plan, I know I had a great season, I earned great points and I achieved a great milestone that will go down in my lifetime.”
“I’m very proud of him,” Fields added. “He’s a good kid. I want a good person more than a great track athlete. He’s a great person.”
