INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Florida track and field and cross country head coach
Mike Holloway will lead the United States Track and Field team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, as USATF
announced he would be its men's head coach Wednesday afternoon.
"Being named the Olympic head coach is an incredible honor," Holloway said. "It's honestly something I never thought about. People mentioned it to me over the last few years. But, for me, I always wanted to be a coach of Olympic athletes, to have an athlete at the Olympics. I remember, as a young coach, wanting to have an Olympic medalist. I remember coaching Dennis Mitchell when he won a medal with the (4x100) relay (in 1992), and that was very exciting. Then having Kerron (Clement) win the Olympic gold (in 2016) was just incredible.
"This is something I will cherish for the rest of my life. The most fun part of this is sharing it with family and friends. They're as excited, if not more excited. I'm not a guy that gets nervous about things, but I'm anxious about this. It's an incredible honor to be asked to head the best track and field team in the world. I'm looking forward to it."
Holloway will be the third Gators head coach in history to lead an American Olympics team amid an active UF coaching career, joining Gregg Troy (men's swimming, 2012 London Olympics), and Ernestine Weaver (gymnastics, 1980 Moscow Olympics).
The Gators also have an American Olympics head coaching tie in Jimmy Carnes, who was the USA Track and Field men's head coach at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Carnes was head coach for Florida's men from 1965 until his retirement from collegiate coaching in 1976. The same goes for Eddie Reese, who led USA Swimming's men at the 1992 Barcelona, 2004 Athens, and 2008 Beijing Olympics. Reese was a Florida swimming and diving assistant coach from 1967-72.
This will not be Holloway's first international coaching gig with USA Track and Field.
Holloway was head coach for the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow, where the American men won a meet-leading four gold medals.
And Holloway was an assistant coach, directing sprints and relays, at the 2012 London Olympics.
Holloway's Track Record with Olympians
Holloway directly coached six Olympic medalists (to a combined nine medals) in his high school and collegiate coaching careers, the most notable among them being gold medalists Kerron Clement (400-meter hurdles, 2016 Rio Olympics), Dennis Mitchell (4x100 relay, 1992 Barcelona Olympics), and Bernard Williams (4x100 relay, 2000 Sydney Olympics).
Moreover, every USA Track and Field Olympics team since 1992 has featured least one Holloway-coached athlete.
Over the course of Holloway's time on Florida's staff (men's assistant coach in 1996, men's head coach in 2003, then men's and women's head coach in 2008), 20 Gators who were coached directly by him or competed collegiately for him have combined for 33 Olympics appearances.
Seven of those aforementioned Gators have combined for 15 medals, with another professional coached by Holloway adding a 16th medal.
Olympic Medalists Coached by Holloway
- Kerron Clement – Gold Medalist; 400 hurdles, 2016 Olympics (Rio)
- Arman Hall – Gold Medalist; 4x400 relay, 2016 Olympics (Rio)
- Tony McQuay – Silver Medalist; 4x400 relay, 2012 Olympics (London)
- Dennis Mitchell – Gold Medalist; 4x100 relay, 1992 Olympics (Barcelona)
- Silver Medalist; 4x100 relay, 1996 Olympics (Atlanta)
- Bronze Medalist; 100m, 1992 Olympics (Barcelona)
- David Verburg (adidas, George Mason alum) – Gold Medalist, 4x400 relay, 2016 Olympics (Rio)
- Bernard Williams – Gold Medalist; 4x100 relay, 2000 Olympics (Sydney)
- Silver Medalist; 200m, 2004 Olympics (Athens)
Gators Olympic Medalists from Holloway's Tenure
- Will Claye – Two-time Silver Medalist; Triple Jump, 2012 and 2016 Olympics (London and Rio)
- Kerron Clement – Gold Medalist; 4x400 relay, 2008 Olympics (Beijing)
- Silver Medalist; 400-meter Hurdles, 2008 Olympics (Beijing)
- Tony McQuay – Gold Medalist; 4x400 relay, 2016 Olympics (Rio)
- Christian Taylor – Two-time Gold Medalist; Triple Jump, 2012 and 2016 Olympics (London and Rio)
The 2016 Rio Olympics saw the Gators set program records for competing Olympians (12 – 11 of whom competed collegiately under Holloway), gold medals (three), and total medals (six – five of which were won by Gators who competed collegiately under Holloway).
Holloway's Track Record at World Championships
Holloway's also had an athlete at every World Championships – essentially the sport's Olympics equivalent in odd-numbered years – since 2001, with eight Gators who competed collegiately for or were directly coached by him combining for 17 world titles.
World Champions Coached by Holloway
- John Capel – 2-time World Champion
- 200 meters
- 4x100 relay (2003)
- Kerron Clement – 2-time World Champion
- 400-meter hurdles (2007)
- 4x400 relay (2007)
- Arman Hall – 4x400 relay (2013)
- Grant Holloway – 110-meter Hurdles (2019)
- Dennis Mitchell – 2-time World Champion
- Bernard Williams – 4x100 relay (2003)
Gators World Champions from Holloway's Tenure
- Kerron Clement – 2-time World Champion
- 400-meter Hurdles (2009)
- 4x400 relay (2009)
- Tony McQuay – 2-time World Champion
- Christian Taylor – 4-time World Champion
- Triple Jump (2011, 2015, 2017, 2019)
At the 2019 World Championships, a dozen Gators (all of who competed collegiately under Holloway) represented the program, with four winning medals and the top highlight being
Grant Holloway's gold in the 110-meter hurdles. The Gators' alumni duo of Christian Taylor and Will Claye also took gold and silver, respectively, in the triple jump for the third straight global championship.
Two years prior, at the 2017 World Championships, a total of 15 Gators (13 of whom competed collegiately under Holloway) combined for five medals.
Holloway's Collegiate Coaching Career in Perspective
Of the 19 USA Track and Field men's Olympics head coaches since 1948, Holloway is the seventh boasting an NCAA Division I track and field national championship, and he is one of only three to win multiple national titles. The other two are USC's Dean Cromwell, who led the Trojans to 11 national titles in the 1930s and 40s before coaching at the 1948 London Olympics, and Vin Lananna, who won a combined five track and field national titles at Stanford and Oregon throughout the 2000s ahead of his head coaching duties at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Holloway and the Gators have won a Division I-leading nine men's NCAA Championships since 2010, capturing five indoor (2010-12, 2018-19) and four outdoor (2012-13, 2016, 2017) titles. Holloway is one of five coaches in Division I history to win eight-plus men's team NCAA Championships.
Other impressive figures from Holloway's head coaching tenure include the fact Florida's men boast 23 top-2 finishes in 34 NCAA Championship meets, along with the men and women combining for 15 team SEC titles (12 track and field, three cross country). Florida has also broken nine collegiate records under Holloway – four of which still stand.
This past season, Florida's men won the NCAA Indoor Championships and finished second at NCAA Outdoor Championships – both for the second year in a row. Florida's women finished sixth nationally indoors and outdoors.
Holloway, a USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame
inductee (Class of 2016), completed his 17th season as men's head coach and 12th season as women's head coach for the Gators this past June.
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