USOPC names USATF’s Bobby Kersee Olympic Coach of the Year and Dr. Christine Brooks Coach Educator of the Year

INDIANAPOLIS – Long regarded as one of the top track and field coaches in the world, Bobby Kersee has been named 2022 Olympic Coach of the Year by the USOPC after guiding Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Allyson Felix to historic achievements. Track and field is the only sport with two honorees, as Dr. Christine Brooks received acclaim as the Coach Educator of the Year, the USOPC announced today. 
 
Bobby Kersee 
Kersee guided 400m hurdler McLaughlin-Levrone to a World Athletics Championships gold medal last July in Eugene, where she ran a stunning 50.68 to smash her own world record. It was the second time McLaughlin-Levrone lowered the WR in 2022, following on the heels of a 51.41 to win the USATF Outdoor Championships a month earlier. In addition to her hurdling exploits, McLaughlin-Levrone anchored Team USATF's women's 4x400m relay to gold in 3:17.79 with a 47.9 split that was one of the fastest in history.
 
Closing out her career as the most successful American female track and field athlete at the Olympic Games and World Athletics Championships, Felix helped the U.S. to gold in the women's 4x400m relay in Eugene by running in the heats, and then earned bronze in the mixed 4x400m relay to bring her career medal haul at the World Championships to 20.
 
Dr. Christine Brooks 
As a sports science instructor, Dr. Brooks taught more than 200 coaches entering the USATF Level 2 Program in 2022. Her students, some of whom have doctorate degrees and some of whom are Olympians, have praised the Level 2 Sports Science course she developed as the best online course available in human performance. In addition, she created a modernized USATF instructor training course, which ushered in 16 new USATF Level 1 instructors during 2022. Brooks authored an updated 20-hour hybrid curriculum in a matter of months, which included video lectures and multiple teaching assessments, including a culminating in-person practicum.
 
Other award winners include: 
Paralympic Coach of the Year - David Hoff (USA Hockey)
Developmental Coach of the Year - Mike Peplinski (USA Curling)
College Coach of the Year - Ryan Martin (National Wheelchair Basketball Association) 
Volunteer Coach of the Year - Jacob Roberts (US Speedskating) 
Service Provider of the Year - Jose Polanco (USA Boxing) 
Doc Counsilman Science & Technology Award - Tom West (USRowing) 
 
The USOPC’s full release can be found here.

Photo Credit: Getty Images (left)