DUNFERMLINE track star Owen Miller is heading for Tokyo after being selected for his first Paralympic Games.

It has been announced this afternoon that the 29-year-old, who competes for Fife AC, is one of eight Scots who will be part of the Team GB & NI track and field team.

With Jo Butterfield, in the F51 Club Throw, and Maria Lyle, in the T35 100 metre and 200m events, having already been selected, six more Scots were confirmed today as being in the team.

Former Woodmill High School pupil Owen will run in the T20 1500m, and is joined in heading to Japan by fellow Fife AC star Derek Rae, T46 marathon; Libby Clegg, T11 200m and 4x100m universal relay; Sammi Kinghorn, T53 100m, 400m, 800m and 4x100m universal relay; Stef Reid, T64 long jump; and Ben Rowlings, T34 100m and 800m.

We recently reported that, last month, Owen ran the second-fastest 1500m of his career in Manchester ahead of final selections for Tokyo.

Racing in the  T20 classification, described by World Para Athletics (WPA) as an intellectual impairment, at the BMC Gold Standard Races at Stretford, his time of 54.52 seconds also moved him into third place in the WPA world rankings within his classification.

Only Japanese athlete Daiki Akai and Russian runner Aleksandr Rabotnitskii, with times of 3:53.35 and 3:54.36 respectively, have run the distance quicker so far this year outdoors and Miller's time came after recording 3:56.24 at another BMC Gold Standard meet in Loughborough six days previously, and 3:58.79 at the Muller British Athletics 10,000m Championships, and European 10,000m Cup, in Birmingham on June 5.

Miller, who is currently ranked number one in the T20 classification in UK Para Athletics, a position he has held since 2019, ran in the BMC Gold Standard Races at Stretford last year, where he posted a time of 3:53.98, his current PB.

The Disability Sport Fife member made his debut for Great Britain in 2019 at the World Para Athletics Championships, which were held in Dubai, where he finished sixth and moved into second spot in the all-time British T20 list over 1500m.

Before lockdown last March, Miller had high hopes of making it to Tokyo, and is now heading to the Games.

Speaking to the Scottish Athetics website, Mark Pollard, the governing body's head of performance, said: "Everyone at scottishathletics would like to extend our congratulations to all the athletes selected for the Paralympic team, along with their coaches, clubs, and all who support them.

"It’s a huge honour to compete at this level, and one that we know is earned through months and years of hard work and dedication.

"We were proud to see six Scots represent GB&NI at the Paralympics in Rio in 2016, so to see that number now rise for the Tokyo games only shows how vibrant Para sports are in Scotland right now.

"We have Paralympic team members representing sprints, middle distance and endurance; ambulant and wheelchair racers, jumps and throws – to see such breadth across the disciplines is superb.

"We wish them all the very best and can’t wait to watch them compete later this year."

Last year, Owen was one of 117 athletes who were offered places on British Athletics' 2020/21 Olympic and Paralympic World Class Programme (WCP), being granted 'Paralympic Podium Potential' status.

There are two levels of WCP membership at Paralympic level, which are Paralympic Podium and Paralympic Podium Potential, and the National Lottery-funded initiative aims to support the delivery of success at the world’s most significant sporting events, with membership based on an individual athlete’s realistic potential to win a medal at either Tokyo 2020 or Paris 2024.

The Paralympic Games begin on August 24 and run until September 5.