COLLEGE PARK, MD – Maryland track and field head coach Andrew Valmon announced today the hiring of Kibwé Johnson (pronounced KIB-way) as the program's throws coach. Johnson joins the Terps after working at Southeastern Louisiana and he is the current USA Track & Field Men's Team Head Coach & Throws Coach for the upcoming 2025 World Championships in Tokyo.
 
Johnson is a two-time Olympian, a four-time World Championships competitor, and is fourth all-time on the U.S. performance list in the hammer throw. At the 2012 London Olympics, Johnson reached the finals where he finished eighth. He also competed at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
 
In the Pan American Games, Johnson is a three-time medalist where he took silver in 2007 and gold in 2011 and 2015. He set the Pan American Games record in 2011 with his throw in the hammer of 79.63 meters.
 
Overall, Johnson has been a five-time U.S. Champion, a four-time U.S. Runner-Up, and was a three-time NCAA Champion. His highest year-end World Ranking was fifth during his career before he retired from throwing in 2017. The San Francisco, California native was one of the United States' best hammer throwers of all-time by being ranked first or second for over a decade.
 
He holds personal-best marks of 80.31 meters in the hammer (2011 USA Outdoor Championships) as well as 65.11 meters in the discus and 25.12 meters in the weight throw. He owns the all-time World Record for the combination of hammer-discus-weight throw.
 
In addition to his work at Southeastern Louisiana and with USA Track & Field, Johnson has also worked as the Director of Track & Field and Head Coach at the SPIRE Academy (2021-24) and the Assistant Track & Field Coach for Throws at IMG Academy (2015-20). In 2023, he was named to the USA Track & Field Board of Directors as an Athletes Commission Representative (Alternate). In 2024, he was also elected to serve as the Athlete's Commission Director of Athlete Services.
 
Johnson graduated from Ashland University in 2008 with a Bachelor's of Science in Sports Management with a minor in coaching. He is the proud father of two daughters, Brooklyn and Ruby.
 
The addition of Johnson to the staff now gives the Terps a depth of Olympic experience. Head coach Andrew Valmon was a two-time Olympic Gold Medalist in the 4x400 relay in 1988 and 1992 as well as the head coach of the U.S. Track & Field Team at the London Olympics. Associate head coach Danielle Siebert has served multiple times with the Olympic team, most recently as the Team USA Head Manager for the 2024 Paris Games. Assistant throws coach Rudy Winkler, who just won his fifth national championship and broke his own American record in the hammer this past July, is gearing up to make a run at his fourth Olympic games having competed in 2016 (Rio de Janeiro), 2021 (Tokyo), and 2024 (Paris).