Coaches Awards

Each year, the USOPC honors the best in coaching and high performance support as part of the USOPC Coach of the Year Recognition program. The finalists must be actively coaching or within one year of retirement to be eligible for the award. Finalists are selected in the following categories:

• Olympic Coach of the Year

• Paralympic National Coach of the Year
• Developmental Coach of the Year
• Volunteer Coach of the Year
• Doc Councilman Science Award
• Collegiate Coach of the Year
• Service Provider of the Year
• Coach Developer of the Year

An independent selection panel of coaching and sport education professionals selects national recipients in each category. The USOPC recognizes each NGB Coach of the Year with a unique award and all recipients are honored by the USOPC in late spring.

The Order of Ikkos was established to recognize the coaches whose athletes medal during the Olympic and Paralympic Games. This medal is inspired by Ikkos, the first recorded coach in Ancient Greece. He was known for his coaching ability as he led two fellow Tarentine athletes to gold in the same event, pentathlon. The USOPC established the Order of Ikkos prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and provides the opportunity for athletes to recognize their coaches for their leadership and inspiration to achieve world-class, podium performance.

The USOPC is proud to recognize the efforts of America’s finest coaches with the Order of Ikkos. The medallion is a symbol of excellence in coaching as represented by athletes’ achievement as an Olympic or Paralympic Medalist.

It is not tradition for the International Olympic Committee to recognize coaches for medal-winning performances at the Games. The USOPC’s Order of Ikkos allows for each U.S. Olympic or Paralympic medalist to acknowledge a coach for their leadership in achieving world-class success.

For more information and to view a complete list of past recipients, visit the Order of Ikkos drop down menu on this page.