One of the most prolific athletic talents in Razorback history Gigi (Miller) Johnson returned to Fayetteville, Arkansas in 2012 as a volunteer coach for the Arkansas women’s track and field team. Johnson is charged with assisting in the development of the Razorback combined events performers as well as the sprinters.
Prior to returning to Arkansas, Johnson spent seven years in a similar capacity with the Penn State Nittany Lions track and field team while also managing her decorated career as a professional athlete for the United States of America Track and Field (USATF) team.
Before her days as a coach, Johnson was one of the top contributors to head coach Lance Harter’s talented squad. Johnson transferred to Arkansas in 2000 from Odessa Junior College where she finished her two-year stead as a 25-time NJCAA All-American.
A heptathlete by trade, she was a threat in every competition despite the distance or specialty. Johnson opened up her campaign for the Razorbacks with a national runner-up finish in the heptathlon at the 2000 NCAA Outdoor Championship with a score of 5,777 points. She went on to capture an NCAA gold medal the following year with a program record-breaking mark of 44-4 in the triple jump at the 2001 NCAA Indoor Championship and finished as the runner-up at the outdoor national meet and holds the UA outdoor record of 44-7.5.
Johnson still remains the best triple jumper to ever compete for Arkansas holding both the indoor and outdoor school records and is No. 5 on the Arkansas’ all-time list in the heptathlon with a score of 5,925.
In 2001 she finished third at the 2001 USA Outdoor Championships and competed at the World Championships and World University Games in the heptathlon. In 2002 she won the NACAC heptathlon by more than 400 points (5,461). In addition, At the 2005 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Johnson was the runner-up in the heptathlon, before finishing third in 2007. Johnson, who finished fourth at the 2008 US Olympic Trials, won the NACAC Combined Event Challenge Championship in August of 2006. She was also a competitor at both the 2005 and 2007 World Championships,
Johnson currently resides in Fayetteville with her husband, Arkansas associate head coach Chris Johnson.
