Lennox Miller, Olympic Medalist in Track, Dies at 58
By FRANK LITSKY
Published: November 10, 2004
(taken from the NY Times)
Lennox Miller, who won Olympic sprint medals for Jamaica in 1968 and 1972 and watched his daughter Inger win one for the United States in 1996, died Monday in Pasadena, Calif. He was 58 and had been a dentist in Pasadena for 30 years.
The cause of death was cancer, according to the University of Southern California, where both Millers ran.
In the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Lennox Miller won the silver medal in the 100 meters in 10.04 seconds. Jim Hines of the United States won the gold medal in 9.9 seconds, equaling the hand-timed world record. Years later, international officials changed Hines's time to 9.95 and recognized it as the first automatically timed world record for the 100.
In the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Miller won the bronze medal in 10.33 seconds, finishing behind Valery Borzov of the Soviet Union (10.14) and Robert Taylor of the United States (10.24).
The Millers became the first father and daughter to win Olympic track and field medals. They were also the first to win titles in the annual Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden.
Lennox Miller did not push his daughter toward track. But as her godfather, Don Quarrie, the 1976 Olympic 200-meter champion, said, "When she was 10 or 11, her father said, 'If you want to be serious, you have to train.' "
She became serious, and, in 1995, her father became her full-time coach. She won gold medals in the 4x100-meter relay in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and in the 200 meters at the 1999 world championships in Seville, Spain. She is now coached by John Smith.
Lennox Miller was born Oct. 8, 1946, in Kingston, Jamaica. In high school there, he won a 100-yard race in 9.4 seconds, winning a ribbon and athletic scholarship offers from American colleges. He chose Southern California, where he earned a degree in psychology and graduated from the dental school.
He anchored the U.S.C. team that set a world record of 38.6 seconds for the 4x110-yard relay (the second leg was run by O. J. Simpson). That record is likely never to be broken because, except for the mile, all world records must be set at metric distances.
Miller's college coach, Vern Wolfe, once said, "I can't say that Lennox is the world's fastest human, but I can say that whoever beats him will have to run quite a race."
Miller is survived by his wife, Avril, and two daughters, Inger and Heather.
