WEST FIFE Paralympic champion Owen Miller has been selected to go for gold at a prestigious global competition next month.

The 31-year-old, who stormed to victory over 1500 metres at the delayed 2021 Games in Tokyo, has been selected by UK Athletics for the World Para Athletics Championships.

Owen competes in the T20 classification, defined by World Para Athletics as for athletes with an "intellectual impairment, which they explain is a "a restriction in intellectual functioning and adaptive behaviour in which affects conceptual, social and practical adaptive skills required for everyday life", present before the age of 18.

A former Woodmill High School pupil, Owen is one of seven reigning Paralympic champions selected for the Great Britain and Northern Ireland squad, which is 45-strong, for the event in Paris, which takes place from July 8-17.

The World Para Athletics Championships are being held for the first time since 2019, which saw Owen make his debut in a GB vest when it was held in Dubai, where he finished sixth.

Two years later, he represented Great Britain once more at the Tokyo Paralympics - delayed a year due to COVID-19 – and he surged to a sensational victory in his maiden Games.

He ran a time of three minutes and 54.57 seconds to finish first ahead of Alexandr Rabotnitskii, of the Russian Paralympic Committee, and Italy's Ndiaga Dieng, to win gold in stunning fashion.

Owen's achievement saw him named as Para Athlete of the Year for 2021 by scottishathletics, and awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) in the New Year Honours List.

Last year, he was also named as the Dunfermline and West Fife Sports Council Sports Personality of the Year for 2021, and the Fife AC star enjoyed a top-two placing in Dubai earlier this year at the Dubai 2023 World Para Athletics Grand Prix.

The competition, marking its 10th anniversary, consists of six events, in different cities across four continents, from February to May, and the Dubai meet was the second of 2023.

Owen, who is coached by Steve Doig, ran a time of 4:024 to place second behind Fife AC team-mate, Ben Sandilands, who posted a new European record of 3:54.19 for the T20 classification.

He has also made the team for Paris, which next year will host the Paralympic Games, where Owen will hope to defend his title.

Speaking following the team announcement, Tom Paulson, head of Paralympic Performance at UK Athletics, and team leader for the championships, commented: "I am really pleased that we have selected such a strong team for the World Para Athletics Championships.

"It is an important stage in the cycle leading into the Paralympic Games, so with just over a year to go until the Games, this will be a good indicator for athletes and their support teams as they continue their journey to Paris 2024.

"Heading to Paris this year and getting used to that Championship environment is hugely beneficial for the athletes and will be a chance to go through the processes a year out. I am looking forward to seeing how they all perform in this Championship environment."