Dominic Johnson is no stranger to great heights. As Saint Lucia’s national record holder in the men’s pole vault and decathlon, he represented the country in three Olympic Games (1996, 2000, and 2008) and secured the nation’s first Commonwealth Games medal. Now in his second year as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Arizona, he’s embracing all the opportunities the past year has brought.
Just this week, Johnson cheered on one of his Wildcat freshmen, Jathiyah Muhammad, at the USA Track & Field Under-20 Championships.
Competing at the University of Oregon, Muhammad, 19, claimed second place in the women’s pole vault, clearing a height of 4.30m (14-01.25).
As Johnson approaches his 50th birthday this year, he’s excited to see what Muhammad and the rest of his athletes can achieve with a full season of training ahead.
“I think Jathiyah’s going to be absolutely one of the top in the NCAA,” Johnson said. “Without question, she will continue to break records in Arizona…. (She) also represents the programme we’ve been building and to have an athlete of this calibre here, it’s fantastic, because we started a programme five years ago, made up, really entirely, of walk-on athletes. And over the years, we’ve built it up to become recognised nationally as a pole vault programme. So, to have Jathiyah here is pretty fantastic.”
Earlier in the season, Muhammad placed first with a jump of 4.20m at the Willie Williams Classic at Drachman Stadium. At the NCAA Division I West Regionals in Texas last month, she set the UA freshman record with a jump of 4.32m.
Johnson signed on as UA’s pole vault assistant coach in the fall of 2023, and less than two years on, his squad is ranked sixth nationally. A former All-American himself, he had previously served as a volunteer pole vault coach for the Wildcats, starting in the 2021-22 season.
In 2024, Johnson helped freshman Olivia Dillon clear a personal best mark of 12-11.75 (3.96m) which ranks seventh all-time in school history. Under his guidance, senior Tanner Kippes finished sixth in the men’s pole vault at the outdoor Pac-12 Championships to score points for the Wildcats. The old saying goes that those who can’t, teach, but that is far from true of Johnson.
The three-time Olympian still holds school records in the indoor pole vault (5.55m, 18-2.5) and outdoor pole vault (5.65m, 18-6.5), alongside four decathlon single-event school records in the 100m, 400m, pole vault, and 1500m. He ranks sixth all-time in the decathlon in school history with a score of 7 764.
In 1996, Johnson finished third in the pole vault at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and qualified for the Atlanta Olympics the same year. As an Olympian and professional athlete, he represented Saint Lucia in the pole vault, decathlon, 4×400m relay, and 4 x100m, setting national records in all of these events.
In 1997 he finished sixth in the decathlon at the NCAA’s, earning All-America honours for both performances. In 1998, he finished runner-up in the pole vault at the NCAA Indoor Championships and was named an All-American. He also qualified for three World Championships with Saint Lucia.
A dad of two, Johnson also has more direct links to the current Wildcats team. His younger daughter, Alexandra, is a freshman high jumper, following both of her parents to UA. Alexandra also followed her father in representing Saint Lucia in athletics. She competed in pole vault, high jump, and mixed 4x400m at the 2024 CARIFTA Games in Grenada. She won a medal in high jump and helped set a national record in the mixed mile.
Once thought to have the potential to become an elite decathlete, the senior Johnson is best known for pole vault, in which he claimed four international medals for the nation.
His crowning moment may have been in 2002, when he took gold for Saint Lucia at the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador. His Commonwealth Games bronze medal in pole vault also came in 2002, whilst he added a Pan American Games bronze the following year in Santo Domingo. In 2006, he returned to the CAC Games to take silver.
Over the years, Johnson has remained close to Saint Lucian track and field, helping numerous young athletes find university and college scholarships in the United States.
