By Tom Degun

Stephen_Miller_Loughborough_November_2011June 17 – Britain's triple Paralympic gold medallist in the club throw F32/F51 Stephen Miller missed out on the chance to compete in a key disability athletics meet in the Netherlands after Dutch airline KLM refused to accommodate his electric wheelchair, he has revealed.


Miller, who has cerebral palsy, was set to travel to the Netherlands to compete at a meet on May 27, his 31st birthday, but he was denied the possibility of participating in the event after KLM gave late notice that they would not be able to fly the Paralympian.

"I was supposed to go to Holland to compete on my birthday but two days before I was due to go, KLM told UK Athletics that my electric wheelchair was too big to get into the baggage hold on the plane," Miller explained.

"I was given the choice of taking the chance that they would put my wheelchair on and that I'd be able to get back to Newcastle, or to cancel.

"Needless to say I decided to stay at home and celebrate being 31.

"It was extremely frustrating - I was all geared up to compete, I'd prepared well for the competition and was looking forward to it.

"The thing that annoyed me about this most recent incident was how late KLM left it to inform us that they couldn't take the wheelchair.

"The flights had been booked for weeks and with the notice they gave me, there was no way I could organise alternative travel.

"Another thing I couldn't understand was that KLM were happy to take my throwing frame, which is actually bigger than my wheelchair - madness!"

The Newcastle athletes, who is tipped for gold at the London 2012 Paralympics, has competed at every Games since Atlanta 1996 where he picked up gold on his debut.

He went on to claim gold at the next two Paralympic Games in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004 before claiming silver in Beijing in 2008.

Miller will be looking to get back to winning ways at London 2012 and, despite missing the competition in Holland, he claimed that he feels in great form with just over a year to go to the Paralympics.

"Even though I didn't get to compete in Holland, I've got plenty of competitions coming up," Miller said.

"I've thrown 30 metres in each of my last three competitions which I'm hoping to build on."

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