Florida teen heads to Olympic trials for 100 meters

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — You could consider 18-year-old Christian Miller the fastest teenager in the country. He is the youngest person to have run the 100 meters in 9.93 seconds.

He currently has the two fastest times for an American under 20 in the 100 meters at 9.93 and 9.95 seconds, securing the latter time at the New Balance Nationals Outdoor taking place this weekend in Philadelphia .

He just graduated from Creekside High School and this weekend he will run to potentially become the youngest person to make the U.S. team in the 100 meters.

“The thought in my head is execute, execute, execute,” Miller said during a practice session with his club, the St. Johns Striders.

He's been with them for a decade now, joining the Striders and head coach Ricky Fields when he was eight years old.

“We use a lot of data,” Fields said. He showed off some of his technology during a training session a week before the trip to the New Balance Nationals. Fields says all this work and his final competition are strategic leading up to the Olympic Trials.

And most of the technologies used, he likes to keep his “secret sauce”.

But he and Miller both know that every step counts in 100 yards.

“We’re not guessing,” Fields said. “We kind of know what you're going to run in the meet by how you run in practice.”

“For me and coach, he gives 110 percent and I give 110 percent and that gets us to the time we want,” Miller said.

The moment they want is the one that will bring Miller to Paris.

For perspective, his current personal best of 9.93 seconds would have been enough to place sixth at the 2021 Olympic Trials ahead of Tokyo.

Trayvon Bromell finished first in the 2021 trials with a time of 9.80 seconds.

But both Fields and Miller know that everyone has gotten bigger, faster and stronger. So they train for every meter of running, trying to get the most out of the sprinter.

According to USA Track and Field, 36 runners will make up the peloton in the 100 meters.

Miller is currently the third seed behind pros Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles who both enter at 9.83 seconds.

“Something faster is in the works,” said Griffin Miller, Christian’s father.

“We're going to do everything we can to support him, and whatever happens, we're just really excited to see him,” he said.

“Having that support system of coaches, family and teammates behind you, it's a great feeling and a great support to get to the moments you want to,” Christian said.

With a few potential options on the table, a trip to Paris for Miller is entirely possible.

If he finishes Top 3 in practice, he will fly to Paris and represent Team USA.

If he finishes in the Top 6, then he would likely be chosen to be part of Team USA's relay group and still make the trip to the Olympics.

“Not only will I be incredibly excited and my hard work and trust in God will have paid off, but the kids will be able to see that when you put 110% into something and put all your faith in God, let it guide you along this path. career, just a great lesson to teach everyone and something to show the world,” Miller said.

When we asked Fields what he thought Miller's chances of making it to Paris were, he kept the answer measured.

Fields knows there's still a long way to go and says he doesn't want anyone to get ahead of himself. But he's excited about going to the trials in Oregon.

“We’ll see, I’m not going to say much,” Fields said. “Just get your popcorn ready.”