AFTER he earned the Ambassador for Sport title at last year's Local Heroes Awards night, Stephen Miller has continued to be feted for his achievements.
Shortly after scooping the Local Heroes gong, he won the Performance of the Year award and was joint winner of the Disabled Sports Personality of the Year honour at the annual NorthEast Sports Awards.
And at April's North-East Disability Sports Awards, Miller took the Male Personality award.
The acknowledgements for Miller from the local sporting public came after his silver medal at the Beijing Paralympics was the latest milestone in a career that continues to offer inspiration for disabled people throughout the North-East.
At the Beijing Games he also won a bronze medal in the discus and he has secured three consecutive gold medals at the World Championships.
After announcing his talent as a 16-year-old with gold in the club event at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 he is aiming to compete in his fifth Games at London 2012.
Miller has been instrumental in developing a squad of athletes with Cerebral Palsy within Gateshead Harriers and he has been awarded the Spirit of Enterprise Award in recognition of his work to promote sport to people with disabilities.
He has become an internationally recognised sporting ambassador and has shared his time and talents to support initiatives that increase opportunities for participation for disabled people.
Miller has described his current season as "the strangest of my career" after the possibility of hip surgery almost put paid to his programme. After he missed his winter training schedule for the first time since he was 15-years-old, Miller did not expect to be in a position to compete at the highest level. But he ended up participating in twice as many event as the previous year, "just for the sheer hell of it, " he confirmed.
"It has just been a case of me thinking - well, I am training hard and nothing is happening on the hip front so I may as well compete while I can."
Miller admits that the lack of a major competition this season has prevented him from having a specific target.
"I am a massive advocate of having a goal to strive for. I haven't been able to plan much due to the uncertainty (arising from his hip injury).I still have no idea what is going to happen which is very frustrating, especially when you consider I was competing in Beijing a year ago."
Mike Hooper - Commercial Manager, Kingsmill Gateshead Baker, said: "A ll of us here at the local Kingsmill Northern Region Bakery would like to congratulate Stephen yet again for winning last year's Ambassador for Sport Award.
"It's evident that Stephen is still a huge inspiration to everyone in the region, not just those involved in the sports world. His continued work to promote and develop disability sports internationally proves that he's not just a great sporting ambassador but a fantastic representative of the North-East too. The Kingsmill Northern Region Bakery is delighted to be working with The Northern Echo for the second year running. As local bakers, we're always keen to support the local community, and these awards do just that.
"We're aware that there's a wealth of unsung sporting heroes in our region. There are plenty of individuals out there who play an active and extremely valuable role in the community and deserve to be handed the 2009 Ambassador for Sport Award. We can't wait to hear about all those who've worked hard to make the sporting community a better place."