Coby Miller (born October 19, 1976) is an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete, who specialises in the sprint events. In his career, he recorded a sub-10 second personal best in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

and a sub-20 second best in the

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

. In the latter distance, he won the

1999 Summer Universiade The 1999 Summer Universiade, also known as the XX Summer Universiade, took place in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Venues * Estadi Son Moix — athletics, football, ceremonies * Arena Son Moix — volleyball * Pavelló Son Hugo — swimming, diving, ...

and reached the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

final. He suffered leg injuries in the 2001 and 2002 seasons, but returned in late 2002 as part of the

gold-medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

-winning American 4 x 100 m relay team at the

IAAF World Cup The IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field competition organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The event was proposed by IAAF former President Primo Nebiolo and was first held in 1977 as t ...

, breaking the championship record. He ran under ten seconds in the 100 m Olympics Trials in 2004, but failed to qualify for the event. However, he won an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

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, etc ...

at the

2004 Athens Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

as part of the American 4 x 100 m relay team. At his peak he was regularly ranked among the top ten American sprinters.

Career

Miller had his first successes as a collegiate athlete at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

; in 1999 he won the 200 m at the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

indoor championships and came second in the outdoor championships.Biography Coby Miller

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

. Retrieved on 2009-05-15. He also enjoyed international success that year, winning the 200 m at the

Summer Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

. He set a 200 m personal best of 19.96 seconds at the 2000 United States Olympic Trials, and reached the 200 m final at the

Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug language, Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport ...

. He qualified for the

IAAF Grand Prix Final The IAAF Grand Prix Final was an athletics competition featuring track and field events staged by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was first held in 1985 and replaced in 2003 by the IAAF World Athletics Final. For the mos ...

in the 100 m and finished in fourth place. The following year he became the 2001 American indoor champion over 200 m, running a world leading time. However, a pile-up at the finish line resulted in a broken

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

, ruling him out for the rest of the athletics season. This included the

2001 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 8th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Pavilhão Atlântico in Lisbon, Portugal from March 9 to March 11, 2001. It was the first time the Championships had been held in Portugal. There were a total number of 511 part ...

in which he was previously a strong medal contender. The following year he missed much of the indoor track season due to

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

problems, which were a knock-on effect of his previous injury. Upon his return in 2002 he won medals at a number of track meets in both the 100 and 200 m, including a personal best-equalling win of 9.98 seconds in the 100 m at Gresham. He again reached the Grand Prix Final but finished last. However,

Tim Montgomery Timothy Montgomery (born January 28, 1975) is an American former track sprinter who specialized in the 100-meter dash. In 2005, he was stripped of his records—including a now-void men's 100-meter world record of 9.78 seconds set in 2002—a ...

and

Dwain Chambers Dwain Anthony Chambers (born 5 April 1978) is a British track sprinter. He has won international medals at World and European levels and is one of the fastest European sprinters in the history of athletics. His primary event is the 100 me ...

who finished first and second later tested positive for banned substances and Miller was upgraded to sixth place. Forming an American team with

Jon Drummond Jonathan A. Drummond (born September 9, 1968) is an American athlete, winner of gold medal in 4 × 100 m relay at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Career Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jon Drummond is known for being among the world's best starte ...

, Jason Smoots and

Kaaron Conwright Kaaron Conwright (born August 8, 1976) is a former American sprinter who specialized in the 100-metre dash. Early life and collegiate records Conwright graduated from Westchester High School in Los Angeles. As a sprinter at Cal Poly in San ...

for the

2002 IAAF World Cup The 9th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was hosted by Madrid, September 21–22, 2002, in the Estadio La Peineta. The IAAF worl ...

, Miller anchored the US to victory, setting a championship record of 37.95 seconds. He was ranked #7 in the world in both the 100 m and 200 m that year. The following year he failed to repeat this form, scraping ''

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runni ...

top ten US sprinters list. However, he set new personal bests over 50 and

60 meters 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior ath ...

, with runs of 5.67 seconds and 6.49 seconds respectively.Miller, Coby Biography

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. Retrieved on 2009-05-15. He also won 200 m at the

Athletissima Athletissima is an annual athletics meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Diamond League. The first edition was held on 8 July 1977 in the Stade Pierre de Coubertin. In ...

Grand Prix, finishing in 20.07 seconds. He competed at the 2004 World Indoor Championships but failed to make the 200 m final. In the outdoor season, Miller put in a strong performance in the 100 m Olympic Trials in 2004. However, his time of 9.99 seconds was not enough to edge out Maurice Greene,

Justin Gatlin Justin Alexander Gatlin (born February 10, 1982) is a retired American sprinter who competed in the 60 meters, 100 meters, and 200 meters. He is the 2004 Olympic Champion in the 100 meters, the 2005 and 2017 World Champion in the 100 meters, ...

Shawn Crawford Shawn Crawford (born January 14, 1978) is a retired American sprint athlete. He competed in the 100 meters and 200 meters events. In the 200 meter sprint, Crawford won gold at the 2004 Summer Olympics and silver at the 2008 Summer Olym ...

. This was the first time that a sprinter had run under ten seconds at the event and not managed to qualify for the Olympics. He was also eliminated in the 200 m event, registering a sub-par 20.68 seconds. His time in the 100 m trials was convincing enough for a place in the 4 x 100 m relay squad, and the team (comprising Miller, Crawford, Greene and Gatlin) went on to finish second in the Olympic finals; resulting in an Olympic silver medal for Miller. Since the 2004 Olympics, Miller has not attended any major international competitions. However, he regularly competed at track meetings during the 2004–2008 period, running in the 100 and 200 meters, although his times were significantly slower in comparison to his 2004 peak. He competed at the

Ponce Grand Prix The Ponce Grand Prix de Atletismo is a track and field competition held yearly in Ponce, Puerto Rico at the Francisco Montaner Stadium. The event started in 2007, after the successful hosting of the 2006 Ibero-American Championships.Robinson, ...

in May 2009.

Personal bests

* All information from IAAF Profile.

Notes

* Miller remains the only sprinter to have run a legal sub-10 second time and not qualify. At the 2008 Olympic Trials six finalists ran under ten seconds but this was

wind-assisted In track and field, wind assistance is the benefit that an athlete receives during a race or event as registered by a wind gauge. Wind is one of many forms of weather that can affect sport. Due to a tailwind helping to enhance the speed of the at ...

by a 4.1 m/s wind, which is twice the legal limit allowed for valid record runs.Gay runs wind-aided 9.68 to qualify for U.S. Olympic team

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

(2008-06-20). Retrieved on 2009-02-12.

References

External links

*
Track meet performance
from The-Sports.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Coby 1976 births Living people People from Ackerman, Mississippi Track and field athletes from Mississippi African-American male track and field athletes American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople