I was saddened to learn of the passing of Harmon Brown. Harmon was a real pioneer in both sports medicine and sports science. He was very instrumental in my career. I found it almost ironic that I learned of his passing when I checked my email during a break at a conference at the US Olympic Training center in Colorado spring, a site where Harmon lead so many organizational meeting to get sports medicine and sport science as integral part of the US Olympic development process. He gave me an opportunity to be the women’s hurdle coordinator which in turn gave me the opportunity to be involved in the sports science work leading into the 1984 Olympics. What many people did not realize was that Harmon was a great throwing coach. When I was coaching at Cal he coached the throwers at Cal State Hayward. He was always so willing to share his knowledge with my throwers, something we all appreciated. Harmon was also very instrumental in the success of the coaching education program. When the program started there was much opposition from the old AAU group, but Harmon in his role a committee chair lent his support. Even more important he lead by example, he was one of the first name coaches to go through the Level One curriculum. I remember teaching that school with him in the audience. What a powerful message that sent to everyone in the room and those who had been critical of the program. I will miss Harmon. I did not communicate as often with him in the last few years, but when I did he always inspired to keep learning. He will be missed as a great person and a quiet leader. I hope someone in the sport of Track & Field can fill the void that Harmon has left.
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