The year 2020 has been good to USA-based Aliann Pompey, the coach and administrator.
It was announced yesterday that the four-time Olympian has been elevated to the position of associate head coach of St John’s University.
The news comes on the heels of the 42 year-old being elected as an Executive Committee Member of the World Olympians Association with responsibility for female athletes in the Americas over the next four years last month.
“I have to thank Mike Cragg and Coach (Jim) Hurt for this honor and I am appreciative of them for their support and tutelage,” Pompey said, according to a release from the University.
“They’re both part of the reason why I am able to continue doing what I love here at St. John’s University. I am grateful for this opportunity and look forward working closely with our administration on continuing our tradition of success,” the former Commonwealth Games 400m gold medalist stated.
Since joining the St. John’s Track & Field programme as an assistant coach in 2014, Pompey has seen her athletes break the Red Storm’s indoor records twice in the 200 meters and 400 meters while also eclipsing previous programmes bests in the 60-meter hurdles, 500 meters and the 4×200-meter relay. Pompey has also helped the Johnnies’ sprints and hurdles squad break outdoor records in the 100-meter hurdles, 800 meters, the 4×200-meter relay and the 4×100-meter relay events.
More recently, Pompey guided Leah Anderson to three gold medals at the 2020 BIG EAST Indoor Championships, as she took first place in the 200 meters, 400 meters and the 4×400-meter relay.
Anderson was named the conference’s most outstanding performer in track events and earned the BIG EAST High Point Performer award, leading the field with 22.5 points.
Pompey’s sprints and hurdles squad accounted for at least 60 percent of St. John’s total team points at the meet.
“I am very pleased and proud to have Coach Pompey become our associate head coach as she is exceptional in every way,” said Head Coach Jim Hurt.
Hurt added that the Guyanese is a “great and winning coach, keenly intelligent and insightful, and a person of great character. She has made a significant impact on our program over the past six years and will continue to do so in the years to come.”
In 2017, Pompey assisted Adriana Wright in capturing the indoor BIG EAST High Point Performer award after winning three gold medals in the 60-meter hurdles, 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash.
The following year she helped Maya Stephens earn the conference’s most outstanding co-performer in track events accolade for her wins in the 200-meter and 400-metre dashes at the 2018 indoor championships.
Throughout her time with the Red Storm, Pompey’s athletes have claimed three of the BIG EAST’s last four most outstanding track performer awards at the outdoor championships while earning the accolade at the 2018 and 2020 conference indoor championships.
Pompey has continued to spread her knowledge and extensive track & field experience to international sports administrations and was named the President of the Pan American Sports Athlete Commission in 2019.
The Guyanese was elected to represent more than 6,600 athletes across 41 countries that compete in the Pan American Games and has served as a standing member of the Athletes’ Commission since 2015. She also serves on the organization’s executive board and as the International Olympic Committee’s athlete liaison. Pompey is now in her third year as the Metropolitan Athletic Conference President.
Pompey is the founder of the Aliann Pompey (AP) Invitational, a premier international track & field competition that was added to the World Athletics Continental Tour in 2020.
The inaugural meet held in Guyana hosted 11 athletes who went on to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio and serves as a gateway to Olympic qualification.
As an athlete, Pompey captured the gold medal in the 400 meters at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and took home the silver medal in 2010. She also earned a bronze medal at the 2003 Pan American Games.
Pompey has represented her home country of Guyana at the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, five Outdoor World Championships in Athletics, and the IAAF World Indoor Championships on four occasions.
In 2009 at the World Championships in Berlin, Germany, Pompey set the South American indoor record in the 400 meters with a personal best mark of 50.71.
During the summer of 2016, Pompey made another Olympic appearance as an assistant manager with the Guyanese Olympic Team.
