One of the most respected coaches in the track and field world and a man whose influence spanned across almost every aspect of the sport on and off the track, Brooks Johnson died June 29 at age 90. Johnson’s leadership was almost unparalleled during his tenure in the sport. Having coached Olympic and World Championships athletes since 1960, he was a member of the Team USA coaching staff at the Olympic Games in 1976, 1984, 2004, and 2008. Johnson was the head women’s coach in 1984 and relay coach in 2008. Three times Johnson was named head coach for the USA vs. USSR dual meet, in 1969, 1973 and 1978. He also served as an assistant at the 1971 Pan American Games. Embodying the name, Johnson was honored with the 2018 USATF Legend Coach Award for his incredible career in the sport. He was inducted into the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1997. Johnson was born on Feb. 28, 1934, in Pahokee, Florida. As a student at Plymouth High School in Massachusetts, Johnson began competing in track and field. His ability as a sprinter earned him a spot to run at Tufts University, graduating from the school with a degree in political science in 1956. In 1955 he unofficially tied the intercollegiate record in the 60-yard dash with a 6.2 at the UConn Relays. He won his first international championship medal in 1963 at the Pan American Games as a part of the gold medal U.S. 4x100 relay team. Johnson received a law degree from the University of Chicago and worked for the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C., and he started coaching at St. Albans School there, where he mentored, among others, discus thrower and future U.S. Vice President Al Gore. His work at the collegiate level began when he took a position as an assistant at the University of Florida in 1975, and in 1979 he became the first African-American head coach at Stanford University, where he served from 1979-1992. He went on to lead the Cal Poly program from 1993-1996, before the Disney Corporation hired him to start the sports program at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World. Throughout his 14 Olympic Games as a coach, he has mentored a number of medalists including Evelyn Ashford, Chandra Cheeseborough and David Oliver, who he coached to a bronze medal in 2008 and the American Record in 2010. Johnson also played a major role in USATF's High Performance division, serving as the Chair, and had the Brooks Johnson Development Chair of the Year Award named after him. On Saturday, June 30 at U.S. Olympic Team Trials, a moment of silence was held at Hayward Field in the late coach’s honor. Johnson leaves behind his wife and two sons.