Joseph Millar: A complex character

Danny Lee, left, and Lydia Ko are helping to drive a boom in junior golf in the Bay of Plenty. Photo / File

On your marks. Set. Bang.

Time seems to stand still before every 100m and 200m race.

All that suppressed energy of coiled, muscular athletes waiting for the sound of the gun. It is one of sport's special moments.

This month a 24-year-old from Papamoa broke not one but two longstanding New Zealand sprint records at the 2017 Jennian Homes NZ Track and Field Champs in Hamilton.

Joseph Millar ran 10.18s in the 100m and 20.37s in the 200m to smash records set 18 and 20 years ago by Chris Donaldson.

His 100m time was 0.06s outside the qualifying time for the world champs in London in August but his 200m time did qualify him for the big stage. He is the first New Zealand sprinter to qualify for the worlds since James Dolphin in 2007.

Spending time training with and competing against Usain Bolt in Australia prior to the nationals was the tipping point for Millar.

"Obviously I ran quite well at the start of the season and had the best start I have ever had, but when I went over there I had to step up and had the best guys in the world to do that against," he said.

"I think I shocked everyone with how much I stepped up and it gave me a lot of confidence to run that well six weeks before the New Zealand champs. The training I did beforehand obviously worked."

Millar admits he wanted to prove people wrong at the nationals after his controversial move back to Tauranga from HPSNZ's National Training Centre in Auckland last July.

"I found things weren't working in Auckland and moved back down to Tauranga. I had Athletics New Zealand and all those guys up there not exactly cut ties with me but they thought if they couldn't keep tabs on me I was not going to get any faster," he said.

"They thought that me moving back to Tauranga was not a calculated decision. So to go against what they said and still come out on top and run the fastest I have ever run was exhausting to be honest.

"All the voices in the back of my mind saying you can't do it just fuelled me to get it done and prove that I was not an idiot and I knew what I was doing."

Millar has long been a singularly focused athlete with strong views on training that have seen him sever ties with numerous coaches over the years.

He wanted to come home because he hated the long hours on his own in Auckland.

"The reason was I needed guys to train with and I needed to inject some more camaraderie and enjoyment into training which I could get in Tauranga with the likes of Kodi Harman and Ryan Howell to train with.

"While I enjoyed the training in Auckland I didn't feel as happy as I could be outside training and when you're not around your mates and training partners then you're not going to get as fast as you could."

WORLD CLASS: Joseph Millar after breaking the NZ record for the Men's 100m at the 2017 Jennian Homes NZ Track and Field Champs at Porritt Stadium, Hamilton. PHOTO: photosport

The poor state of the Tauranga Domain all-weather track played a key part in
Millar returning to Auckland last month as he feared serious injury.

"With the track in the state that it is I was running too fast to be able to run on it safely. Each step was ripping out of the ground and if I had kept going and kept getting faster I might have slipped and hurt myself more than I did a couple of times," he said.

So now London is calling with the world athletics champs to be held there in August.

Millar has heard the message loud and clear. He can't wait to prove he is good enough to push the best sprinters in the world.

"Bring it on," he says.

"I have always been known as a guy who can step up when the occasion arises. The faster the guys I am racing against the faster I go.

"To have run at the New Zealand champs and had such a big gap between me and the next guy and still run those times is quite a good indicator that by the time I get to the world champs if I am in good form that should elevate me to another level still.

"That 10- and 20-second barrier (100m and 200m) I am starting to get very close to now and it is starting to get very exciting."

Tokyo Olympics is not something on Millar's radar at this stage. It is just too far away.

But the fact he has qualified for the world champs and the Commonwealth Games in the 200m are what he calls "really great stepping stones".

"Making worlds and Commonwealth Games should start a roll where my times should just drop due to the exposure of high class competition. The Olympics shouldn't be an issue but just the next progression from where I am now."

Sprinters are known as a rare breed and not always the most popular of athletes.

Millar was yellow-carded before the 100m final in Hamilton after arguing with officials over his starting blocks that were slipping.

"Sprinters are always assumed to be the cocky, arrogant guys, especially in New Zealand culture that doesn't fit well with a lot of people," Millar said.

"But a big part of competing and doing well is before you are able to beat anyone else on the track, you've got to beat the doubt in your mind that once you step out there anything other than greatness is going to happen.

"You don't turn up to the New Zealand champs, cross the line and then become the champion.

"You turn up on the day as the champion and once you cross the line you let everyone know you are the champion."