Smile Through Sport: Helping the next generation get into sport with Stephen Miller

The words ‘no’ and ‘can’t’ have never been part of Stephen Miller’s vocabulary. 

The three-time Paralympic champion recently called time on a glittering career in which he won 34 major international medals across more than two decades at senior level, but there is much more to the discus thrower. 

Being a Paralympian is in the Northumbrian’s DNA, but there’s much more to admire about him than just his impressive medal collection. 
Miller has made a big impact away from the stadium, too, with the 44-year-old determined to provide others with the platform and powers sport has provided him. 

“Sport has played a big part in who I am today, it’s given me a purpose and an identity," he said. 

“We’re constantly seeing images of what people should look like or how people should move, so I think it’s important that we give people the confidence to be proud of who they are and not be ashamed.”  

Miller has no shortage of personal experience when it comes to understanding the way being active can shape a person's life and spends part of his time giving talks in schools to encourage children to get stuck into whatever sport they want to. 

“I talk to children about the importance of being active and moving your body, but also that it’s important not to compare yourself to others," he added. 

“All through my life I measured my success based on improving my own ability. I think we get a bit obsessed about winning and being good at something, but that’s not everything.” 

Miller’s ten gold medals across the Paralympics and European and World Championships barely scratch the sides of his wider achievements, but he believes his athletic success comes down to something more important.  

“My technique of throwing the club is very unusual," he said. "I wasn’t particularly talented when I first started but I found a really unconventional tactic of throwing the club backwards. That was uncommon but it worked for me.  

“When I think about my success in athletics, I think it boils down to not being scared to be different.” 

It is an attitude he is keen to encourage to the up-and-coming generations as he recognises that often younger people prefer not to stand out. 

“I think accepting who you are and believing in what makes you unique is really important," he said. "Sometimes we try to hide away from that, we try to blend in so we can be accepted by others. 

“In my case my success all comes down to trying something different. Embracing what makes me unique has allowed me to turn my weakness into a strength.” 

“When I talk to young people about the importance of diversity, being prepared to fail, to look silly every now and again; I tell them that’s how we discover our unique talents. We can’t be afraid to try.”  

This knowledge of the power of self-assurance is what inspired Miller and his wife, Rachel, to set up SMILE Through Sport, a foundation which encourages disabled children to participate in sports. 

He added: “I know there can be many challenges and obstacles that might get in the way of people doing sport, so we started SMILE to break down some of those barriers.  

“It’s about trying to educate people about how they can adapt sport for different people with different abilities. I think no matter what your ability or your age you can always find a way to be active.” 

The three-time Paralympic champion puts a large part of his success down to the support network that has rallied loyally around him through his career, so it feels only right that he expands the group now. 

“Being active has taught me some really important lessons and as I’m moving towards the next phase of my career, I want to take all of my lessons and help others to recognise how important sport can be," he said. 

“I worked really hard to have a successful career and so many great experiences - it would be a waste if I didn’t use that in a positive way. I want to put it all to good use and tell my story to empower people.” 

While this year’s Paralympics will feature a Stephen Miller-sized hole for the first time since 1996, he hopes the Paris Games will continue to put disability sport in the spotlight. 

“When I started doing Paralympic sport it was a minority sport that nobody really knew or cared about," he reflected. "Over the last 30 years we’ve seen such a progression in the standard of competition and public interest. 

“It’s a really inspirational event. It has so much power to make people realise what can be achieved with the right mindset and show them that life’s obstacles can be overcome. It will only keep doing that.”