The best track & field athletes in the world come to compete at the World Athletics Championships, and recently SPIRE’s Director of Track & Field and Head Coach, Kibwé Johnson, was selected to be the USA Track & Field (USATF) Head Throws Coach for the 2023 competition held in Budapest, Hungary this August.

This bi-annual event is held in the years when the Olympics are not taking place, and is considered to be second only to the Olympics, in terms of competition, scope, and overall size. In a recent interview, Johnson said that the motto for the Olympics is that, “It’s the hardest team to make.” However, he expressed that the same ideal can be applied to the World Athletic Championships, saying, “Just making the team can be life-changing for many people.” For him personally, this position is “the second hottest ticket there is after being on the Olympics’ coaching staff.” He said that he especially appreciates being selected by a committee of his peers.

“Just making the team can be life-changing for many people.”

Johnson enjoys taking care of the competing athletes and views his duty as Head Throws Coach as not only being responsible for training the team, but also managing the logistics of the events. He is preparing to ensure that the team is exactly where they need to be, when they need to be there, with everything they need, so that they can perform their best. He explained that the best coaches simply facilitate the athletes’ own talent which allows them to compete at the highest level possible saying, “The expectation isn’t to super coach…It’s the facilitation of [the athletes] competing at their best, at the biggest event of the year.” 

Johnson’s experience and expertise also serves SPIRE’s own student-athletes, and he is looking forward to returning with even more knowledge and experience to share with his team.