INDIANAPOLIS – USA Track & Field has named Dr. Robert Chapman as Chief of Sport Performance. Chapman will lead all of USATF’s initiatives around high performance for athletes striving to perform in events ranging from the elite youth events, Olympic Games, Paralympics, all the way to the Masters World Championships. His department will ensure that not only does Team USA develop and support runners, jumpers and throwers on their Journey to Gold, but also that it sends the best teams in the world to represent the United States on the global stage.
Chapman, a 16-year-veteran of USA Track & Field, moves into this role after serving as Chief of High Performance Operations. He previously served as Chief of Sport Science and Medicine. Chapman has a PhD in Human Performance from Indiana University where he works as a professor in the Department of Kinesiology. He was Indiana’s head cross country coach from 1998-2007.
“Dr. Chapman knows this sport, this federation and its athletes better than anyone in the country,” said Max Siegel, USATF’s CEO. “As we prepare for an Olympics on home soil, there is no one more well-suited to get Team USA ready to compete and succeed in the LA 2028 Games.”
As Chief of Sport Performance, Chapman will oversee a staff of more than two dozen sport scientists, team general managers and discipline experts in the national office as well as a national network of coaches, trainers and medical providers that work directly with Team USA athletes. Chapman will also drive the strategy and outcome of volunteer committees for track and field, masters, cross country, race walking and elite youth performance.
“Team USATF is the best track and field team in the world,” said Chapman, a native of Nevada. “It’s a great challenge and a great honor to be given the opportunity to exceed the expectations coming off the success of Paris 2024 and Tokyo 2025.”
At the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo last year, Team USATF brought home 16 gold medals, a record for a world championship performance. The United States won 14 gold medals in Paris, the most of any country.