INDIANAPOLIS — Bobby Kersee, a three-time Nike Coach of the Year honoree and mentor to some of the top track and field athletes in U.S. history, was announced today as the 2023 USATF Legend Coach. Kersee, a member of the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame, will be honored at the Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships. Known as one of the best track and field technical coaches in the modern era, Kersee’s knowledge of the sport is second to none. For decades he has aided his athletes in unlocking their potential at the collegiate and professional level. Kersee helped lead Team USATF to glory as the women's sprints and hurdles coach at the 2005 IAAF World Championships in Helsinki, guiding U.S. athletes to gold in the 100m, 200m and 100m hurdles as the team won 25 medals. Kersee was an assistant coach on the women's staff for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo. He was an assistant coach for the sprints at the 1987 Pan American Games and coached the sprinters for the 1985 U.S. Olympic Festival West team. In 2022 he was named USOPC Olympic Coach of the year. Kersee played a significant role in the most decorated American Olympic track and field athlete of all time in Allyson Felix, along with heptathlon world record holder Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s success. His consistency is legendary, bringing his athletes at least one gold medal in 10 consecutive Summer Olympics. Guiding his athletes to more than 50 Olympic and World Championship medals over the years, Kersee remains an influential figure in the sport. A collegiate coach for more than 30 years, Kersee was an assistant at Cal State Northridge after serving as a student assistant at his alma mater, Long Beach State. At Northridge he helped the women's team to consecutive AIAW national titles in 1978-79. He then went on to an assistant role at UCLA before becoming the women's head coach. As head coach from 1984-1993, Kersee led the Bruins to five conference titles with many of his sprinters earning NCAA honors. His nine-year tenure at UCLA earned him the Pac-12 Coach of the Century award in 2016. Currently he leads “Formula Kersee”, which includes Olympic medalists Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Athing Mu, Keni Harrison, Jenna Prandini, and Morolake Akinosun. The USATF Legend Coach Award is in its ninth year and is selected by the USATF Coaches Advisory Committee. The inaugural award was presented to Hall of Fame Tigerbelle Coach Ed Temple in 2014, followed by Dr. Joe Vigil (2015), Tom Tellez (2016), Clyde Hart (2017), Brooks Johnson (2018), Bob Larsen (2019), Bill Dellinger (2021), and George Williams (2022).
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running, and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the country's No. 1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States. For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org. Photo Credit: Getty Images