Robert Miller -- 2004 USADSF Hall of Fame Award Winner
A Summary of Miller's Legendary Track and Field Career
Robert Miller, known as "The Olathe Flasher" during his prime years, was one of the finest athletes ever to compete at the Kansas School for the Deaf, and one of the few athletes to participate in international competition during that time. He earned his nickname on the gridiron where he starred as one of the nation's top high school ball carriers.
His amazing speed tore up the cinders and sod of Hubbard Field at KSD. He established one of the finest track records in the school's history. His athletic career at KSD was climaxed when he broke the Kansas state high school 100-yard dash record with a time of 9.8 seconds at the Kansas University Relays, a record that stood until 1977 when the distance was extended to 100 meters.
Miller enrolled at Fort Scott Community Junior College in1948 where he continued his athletic feats. In recognition of his talents, people in Kansas and Missouri financed his trip to Copenhagen, Denmark to compete in the 1949 International Games for the Deaf. He finished second in the 100-meter race. He placed first in the 200-meter but was disqualified for overstepping his lane. This unfortunate incident robbed him of a gold medal in his pet event, for which he was known throughout his KSD career.
While wearing the blue and white colors of KSD, Miller competed against Class AA, A and B runners, winning comfortably and repeatedly in the 100-, 220- and 400-yard dashes. At the KU Relays in 1947, Miller established his record of 9.8 in the 100, 22.8 in the 220, and 52.8 in the 440, and anchored the 880-yard relay team. He scored the most points in a field of more than 1,000 Class A, AA and B tracksters. The following week, Miller once again took the honors as the highest scorer at the Ottawa Relays with first place finishes in the 100 and 220, second in the 440, and anchored the winning 880-yard relay team. Seven days later, he repeated the same feat in helping KSD, the smallest school in the field, to win the regional track meet. His unsurpassable records at various state meets in Kansas made him a legendary trackster.
Today, Miller is the sole surviving member of the first four Americans who participated in the Deaflympics. The other three were John Chudizweicz (1935), Wayne Otten (1935), and diver George Crichton. At the 2004 National Association of the Deaf Conference in Kansas City this past summer, Miller donated his original 1949 USA track outfits and spiked shoes to the USADSF Archives.
Posted: November 4, 2004
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