Nov. 9, 2004

Los Angeles - Olympic 100-meter silver medalist Lennox Miller, a sprinter on two USC track and field NCAA championship teams and a part of the reigning world-record 440-yard relay squad, passed away on Monday (Nov. 8) of cancer in Pasadena at the age of 58.

He is survived by his wife, Avril, and two daughters, Inger--herself a USC track alum and Olympic medalist--and Heather.

Services are pending.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Miller lettered for Trojan coach Vern Wolfe's squad from 1967-69. He holds the school record for the 100-yard dash (9.2 seconds) and ran the anchor leg on USC's sprint relay team that--along with Earl McCullouch, Fred Kuller and O.J. Simpson--won the 1967 NCAA title with a still-standing world record for 440 yards (38.6). Miller was the NCAA 100-yard dash runner-up in 1967 and the 100m champion in 1968 as the Trojans won NCAA team titles both years. Miller's 47 career NCAA championship points is the third-best total in USC history.

After the 1968 collegiate season, Miller competed for Jamaica at the Mexico City Olympics, winning the silver medal in the 100m dash. He set the world record in the indoor 100-yard dash in 1969, the same year he was USC's team captain. He was ranked in the top 3 in the world in the 100-meter dash for three straight years (1967-69), then went on to win a 100m bronze in the 1972 Munich Olympics. He remains one of the greatest sprinters in USC's storied track and field history.

Miller graduated from the USC School of Dentistry in 1973, then ran a successful dental practice in Pasadena for the next 30 years. His daughter, Inger, carried on the family sprint tradition, starring at USC before winning a gold medal in the 400m relay at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.