Hammer thrower Nick Miller is now targeting the European Athletics Championships after his Commonwealth Games success.

The 25-year-old, from Scotby, was selected to head British Athletics’ 10-strong team at next weekend’s Halle International Throws event in Germany on Monday.

Despite setting a new Commonwealth Games record as he won gold on the Gold Coast last month with a throw of 80.26m, Miller says that hasn’t affected his plans for the 2018 season.

He said: “A few days after the Games, I returned to California to get back to training – you can’t just rest after a competition. It’s all about the next one.

“My training plans are much the same as they have been from the start of this season: consolidating my strength and conditioning work and fine-tuning my throwing technique.

“It’s working well for me, so I don’t want to change anything.

“My aim is to peak in August for the European Championships [in Berlin].

“This will be a good competition with the main throwers there, so it should be a strong competition and I would like to show that I’m on a level with them if not better. That would be the goal anyway.

“Spectators at European competitions really like the throwing events so there will be a great atmosphere and a lot of support.”

But Miller is refusing to look too far ahead.

He said: “Before this, I’ve got the British Championships in Birmingham at the end of June, where I will be defending my title, so I would like to do well at that also.”

Reflecting on his Commonwealth Gold, he added: “Winning the Commonwealth Gold medal was a huge accomplishment, especially as I broke the Commonwealth Games record and became the first Brit to throw over 80m.

“I knew I was capable of this. It was just a matter of doing it in competition which can be tough at times.

“Getting cramp in the first two throws was a worry but I managed to relax out of it and then just went for it. I knew that was my chance and I’m happy it all went well after that.

“Bringing home a gold medal is incredible and makes all the hard work worthwhile.

“My parents were there to see me on the podium, in fact they managed to get right in front of the podium, and that was such a special moment.”