OWEN MILLER says he is ready to run the race of his life as he prepares for a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" at the Paralympic Games.

And the 29-year-old has declared stepping onto the podium as his goal in Tokyo during a year that has seen him set a British record time and run quicker than any European athlete has in his distance.

Former Woodmill High School pupil Miller, who is a member of Fife AC, was last month named as one of eight Scots selected for Team GB's 47-strong track and field squad.

He will compete in the T20 1500 metres classification, for athletes with learning or intellectual impairments, in what will be his Paralympic debut, having missed out on both London 2012 and Rio 2016.

In 2019, Miller made his Great Britain debut at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, where he finished sixth, but now heads for Japan in what he says is the "best shape" of his life.

In June, a run of three minutes and 54.52 seconds at the BMC Gold Standard Races in Stretford, Manchester, ahead of the final selections for Tokyo, was the second-fastest of his career.

However, on July 27, he clocked a time of 3:52.09 at another BMC Gold Standard Races event, in Trafford, Manchester, which not only was a new PB, but the fastest recorded over the 1500m distance by a British or European runner.

Speaking to Press Sport at the Pitreavie Athletics Centre track ahead of jetting out to the Games, Miller said: "I'm really excited to be part of the team and, if it wasn't for my training group and everybody helping me out, I wouldn't be the runner I am today.

"I kinda expected it but it was a surprise at the same time as well. I was holding off; I was like, 'Is it going to happen or is it not?' It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so it's good to be out there with the big guys.

"I've managed to break records and European records. It's something I had aimed for, trying to get my times down, and I'm in the best shape of my life so I can't really complain. I'm doing well, training's paying off and I've got the right people helping me out.

"My goal is just to try and get a medal. I feel like I'm doing well in training and everybody's keeping me moving.

"It's the biggest one of my career and it's the longest one I've been to. It's good to experience how far it is. I've been to a few places now; this will be my ninth or 10th different country I've been to.

"Not everybody can say they've done it; I can say I've done it, I've been.

"I just need to go out and run the race of my life and, if I'm knackered at the end, at least I've tried."

Miller, who admitted selection this time was made "more exciting" having missed out on the last two Games, said that competing at the World Championships had boosted his confidence, and revealed that one family member in particular had kept him going during the last year-and-a-half.

"It was a good experience just to be sixth in the world at that (World Para Athletics Championships)," he continued.

"It's boosted my confidence. I've learned, I've gone back to the drawing board and learned a lot more off mainstream athletes and disability athletes in how they run. It's helped me a lot.

"It's been quite hard, lockdown and everything else, but I've managed to cope. I've done a couple of grass sessions – my gran's had me up at the field – and everybody's had me doing what I need to do, kept me going and kept me positive at training.

"Family's quite important. They've supported me through a lot of my athletics career. They were really excited; my gran and grandad were over the moon, my auntie, everybody.

"It's all paid off and it's made me achieve what I wanted to achieve and get me to where I want to go."

Miller's coach, Steve Doig, commented: "At the start of the summer, he was running really well but, just before his first race, he had a slight calf injury at the end of April. He was supposed to race on May 8, and he couldn't do the race, so that was a bit of a wobble. His first race became May 29 and it was maybe four or five seconds slower than we'd hoped for.

"It was a bit of a worry at that point but he then ran a few more races and what happened was he ran four minutes for his first race, then he ran a 3:58, then a 3:56, and then he ran a 3:54, which was the time that got him selected. That was the second-quickest ever.

"Two weeks after he'd been selected, he ran 3:52, which is the fastest ever by a Briton, and it's the fastest ever by a European. But, the way para sport's set up, it's the quickest by a European but it's not a European record because it wasn't in a world para competition. It has to be a sanctioned competition for records to stand.

"The hope in Tokyo would be that he'll run a PB again, so break the British record, and hopefully that's good enough for a medal."

Miller, who is funded by UK Sport through the National Lottery, and his coaches wished to express their thanks to British Athletics, Scottish Athletics, the Scottish Institute for Sport Disability Sport Fife, Fife Sports and Leisure Trust, for access to strength and conditioning facilities; Ian Mitchell, who offers strength and conditioning support; Pitreavie AAC, for helping with access to the track at Pitreavie Athletics Centre; and Fife AC.