Jan Johnson was the 1972 Olympic bronze medalist for the pole vault. During the summer of 1972, the late Steve Prefontaine was one of the guys who liked to carry poles with Jan Johnson through the airports of Europe. The two of them together must have been a sight to see ! Jan Johnson was also quoted in one of Kenny Moore’s Sports Illustrated features, the Long Blue Line, about having oatmeal and applesauce for breakfast: “the power of a thousand butterflies”.
Jan has been my friend and counsel for over twenty years. He allowed us to send a neophyte pole vaulter to his camps and write a piece, Howard Goes to Camp, which has kept cult like status since its writing in 1991.
I can not recommend a coach more than by saying, that if my son, or perhaps, someday, grand son, was to pursue the pole vault, I would send him to Jan Johnson. Not much more can be said. The guy loves the sport, loves the vault and is a man of huge optimism and faith. Without his support, I would have never got American Athletics magazine off the ground.
I suggest that you check out his camps if you are an athlete or coach.
VS Athletics Pole Vaulting Safety and Basic Progressions Clinics 2014
Featuring: Jan Johnson
Olympic Bronze Medalist
Former World Record Holder
National Safety Chairman
Soquel HS Santa Cruz, Ca……………………… Jan 4, 2014
Sky Jumpers Vertical Sports Club, Atascadero, Ca…. Feb 9, 2014
Maine South HS, Park Ridge, Illinois………………. Feb 15-16, 2014
Sky Jumpers Vertical Sports Club, Atascadero, Ca…. March 9, 2014
Sky Jumpers Vertical Sports Club, Atascadero, Ca…. March 16, 2014
Centerville HS, Dayton, Ohio…………………………June19-22, 2014
Univ. of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, Wisconsin ………June 25-28, 2014
Sky Jumpers Vertical Sports Club, Atascadero, Ca ….July 13-16, 2014
Kutztown University, Kutztown, Pa ………………July 20-23, 2014
Sky Jumpers Vertical Sports Club, Atascadero, Ca ….Dec 28-30, 2014
For information contact [email protected]
Or call 1805 423-2363
Or get applications at www.skyjumpers.com
sky jumpers vertical sports club@fb
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Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys.
Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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by Larry Eder
