Nick Miller continued his promising early-season form as he edged towards his own British hammer record.

The Cumbrian produced a series of great throws, which were all well above anything any other UK athlete has thrown this season, as he won at the Spring Fling Throwers Meet in the elite section last Friday.

Miller’s best throw was a massive 77.51m, which is just 4cm short of his UK record.

As a result of his win at Hartnell College, Salinas, USA, he has also thrown the qualifying distance for the IAAF World Championships in London this summer, which will take place in August.

The 23-year-old hammer thrower, from Scotby, Carlisle, sits fourth in the world after the early stages of the 2017 season.

And Miller was pleased with his performance, especially because he had been throwing against a strong head wind.

He said: “There are still some technical issues that need addressing with my throw but, regardless of this, I was pleased with my distances.”

Miller’s plan now is to continue with his training in California with his coach, Tore Gustafsson.

And he is hoping to fine-tune his technique with his Swedish coach who holds their national hammer record, before he briefly returns to the UK next month.

Miller, of Scotby, then hopes to enter various competitions around Europe as he builds towards the World Championships – the biggest event in the athletics calendar this year.

Miller began his 2017 campaign this month by winning at the Stanford Invitational in California with a throw of 75.58m.

He first broke the British hammer record with a 77.55m throw at a meeting in Sweden in 2015, breaking a 31-year-old record that had been set by Martin Girvan back in 1984.

Miller is also a Commonwealth Games silver medallist from Glasgow in 2014.