William Preston Miller (February 22, 1930 – October 27, 2016) was an American athlete who competed in the javelin throw for the United States in the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

held in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

where he won the silver medal with a throw of 72.46 meters. Miller was born in

Lawnside, New Jersey Lawnside is a borough in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 2,945,

AAU competition

A graduate of Haddon Heights High School, he won the American Athletic Union competition in 1952 and 1954. He was a proud African-American and Native American athlete and one of the few Native Americans who have represented America at the Olympics.

College studies

He completed his Bachelors and Masters studies in Psychology at the University of Arizona and had an additional year of graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania in International Affairs. At the NCAA Championships he was 5th in the 1949 javelin throw, and 3rd in 1950.

Denied world record

In 1954, he was denied the opportunity to become the only native athlete ever to hold the world javelin record. He completed a throw of 266' 8½" (81.29 cm) but the javelin had been broken and in repairing the implement the center of gravity had been moved out of the specified limits.

Decathlon and 1970 Masters Nationals

His accomplishments as an athlete, included not only javelin records, but achievements as well in the Decathlon, competing in both the Javelin and High Jump. He competed as an American Decathlon athlete in 1952. In July, 1970 Miller returned to competing and placed second in the Javelin at the 1970 Masters National Outdoor Track and Field Championship.Sacramento Bee, California, July 5, 1970

Retrieved Apr 28, 2021

Later career

He worked for the U.S. State Department as the U.S. Liaison and Head Coach for the National Indonesian Track and Field Coach, then after, as the Head Coach of the National Malaysian Track and Field Team. In 1967, he brought his family back to the U.S. and took a job with the U.S. Office of Economic Security in Washington D.C. He later worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in Washington, then completed his career in Arizona working with Native American desert crops, Jojoba and Guayule. He died Thursday, Oct. 27th, 2016 at his home, Ironwood Assisted Living in Apache Junction, Arizona.

References

* 1930 births 2016 deaths American male javelin throwers Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1952 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1952 Summer Olympics American masters athletes {{US-javelinthrow-athletics-bio-stub