Joe Vigil receives his coaching achievement award in 2018 (© AFP / Getty Images)
World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that Joe Vigil, the globally respected and renowned US coach, physiologist and coach educator, died on Saturday (19) at the age of 95.
Vigil’s contribution to the sport saw him receive considerable recognition, including the World Athletics Coaching Achievement award in 2018.
Vigil was Born in Antonio, Colorado, near the New Mexico border on 25 November 1929. From humble beginnings he committed himself to a life-long relationship with education that initially led to him achieving a PhD in exercise physiology from the University of New Mexico. Subsequent post-graduate studies at Louisiana State University and Toledo University led to his appointment as head coach and full-time professor of exercise physiology at Adams State University.
As a collegiate coach, Vigil was at Adams State University for almost 30 years, from 1965-1993. While at Adams State he led a programme that won 19 NAIA National Team Championships and produced 87 individual champions and 425 All-Americans. Most notably, his 1992 cross-country team won with a ‘perfect score’ of 15 points, the only one ever achieved in a US collegiate national championship. He was named National Coach of the Year on 14 different occasions.
Vigil, who always emphasised the importance of education in life, was as proud of maintaining a 95% graduation rate for his student-athletes during his collegiate coaching career as he was of any victory on the track or over the country.
Vigil then shifted his focus to coaching elite post-collegiate athletes and was instrumental in the success of the USA's 2004 Olympic marathon medallists: Deena Kastor, who gained bronze, and Meb Keflezighi, who achieved silver. Vigil continued to enjoy great success in cross-country, with two of the athletes he coached, Kastor and Pat Porter, dominating the USA domestic scene.
Vigil was head coach of the 1997 United States Pan-American Games team and in 1998, he was the long-distance running coach for the USA Olympics team. Additionally, he was USA team coach at seven World Cross Country Championships.
From the very beginning of his coaching career, Vigil was active in sharing his knowledge and expertise with others. In the early 1980s it was natural that he became one of the founders of the USA Track & Field (USATF) coach education programme. He was a natural educator, gifted with an empathetic manner that was always encouraging. Over a 50-year period, thousands of athletes and coaches were educated and mentored by Vigil.
In 2015, Vigil was honoured as the second-ever recipient of USATF’s Legend Coach Award. He had previously been included in the US Hall of Fame, and then in 2018 he received the World Athletics Coaching Achievement of the Year honour.
His 1995 book Road to the Top is considered by many to be essential reading, as it offers insights into his training methodology and the science behind it. More recently, Chasing Excellence (2020) by Pat Melgares tells the story of Vigil's life, coaching successes, and his ‘Vigilosophy’.
Vigil’s contribution and impact on the running and coaching communities is one that will stand the test of time. His name has entered the pantheon of great running coaches and his visible legacy lies in the work and achievements of all those whose lives he has touched.
Peter J L Thompson for World Athletics