Dwayne Miller is an American sprint coach most well known for his work with famed 400m sprinter Lashawn Merritt. Dwayne has guided Lashawn to World Junior, World Senior and Olympic gold medals, as well as to his current personal best of 43.75, making him the fifth fastest quarter miler of all time. Lashawn’s senior title came this past summer at the World Championships in Berlin with a winning time of 44.06, more than half of a second clear of the field. Coach Miller, who has also done some tremendous work with youth development athletes throughout his 18 year coaching career, was named by USATF as the 2008 Nike Coach of the Year.

In this interview, Dwayne talks in detail about his general training principles, and how they are used in the training of Lashawn Merritt. He discusses the importance of the aerobic system to the training of a sprinter, as well as the role that strength plays in performance. In addition, he brings forth the progression that he has found to work with bringing a young, talented athlete along to a world class performer. Coach Miller’s traits of optimism and dedication are contagious throughout this excellent interview.