Last Updated on April 23, 2025
Joe Johnston has entered his 8th decade of life at full force. At 81 years old, he won the U.S. National Championship and World Championship in pole vaulting, and the World Championship in the 60-meter hurdles.
“It feels pretty good to be the best 80-year-old pole vaulter in the world,” Johnston laughed. “It’s just fun. I do it because I can’t think of anything I’d rather do unless it’d be hang gliding or jumping off the mountain in Chamonix.”
Johnston isn’t your average hurdle and pole vaulting enthusiast. To fuel his passion, Johnston embraced a D.I.Y. attitude and built his own pole barn in his backyard, dubbing it “The Joe Dome.” It was where he practiced for years.
In his 70s, Johnston upgraded to a new Joe Dome, a 5,000 square foot addition to his home.
“We got a big mortgage, and here it is,” Johnston explained. “[The Joe Dome] is my dream come true.”
Johnston enjoys front page coverage he receives in his local newspaper for his pole vaulting success, but only because it inspires the thousands of former students he taught and coached for decades in Apopka, Florida.
Where others might construct a trophy case or shrine for their success, Johnston simply keeps a jar to hold his medals, which he eagerly gives away to the next generation of jumpers.
“We had a meet here [in the Joe Dome], with six or eight ladies and kids,” Johnston told Growing Bolder. “I said to the kids, ‘When you finish the meet, go over and get yourself two or three of those medals [from the jar] and take them home with you.”
If he’s not vaulting or hurdling himself, Joe is coaching boys and girls of all ages for free. It’s his unique way of welcoming and serving anyone and everyone.
“I get everything out of it. As a teacher, that’s what you do; you try to help kids grow up to be good adults,” Johnston said.
The lessons aren’t just for the kids. Johnston’s work in the Joe Dome and on the track provides a constant reminder about the importance of resilience in life, especially on the attempts where Johnston falls down or fails to clear the bar or a hurdle.
“I’m going to attack. I may get splattered, I’ve been splattered before. I’ll get up again and go again,” Johnston says. “Hurdles is life. Because you’ve got to go, ‘I want to get from here to there faster than everybody else. Oh wait, we got these things in the way here.’ There’s barriers that we have to overcome, just like life. So, if you can learn to negotiate those barriers, you can be successful.”
The Joe Dome is Joe’s happy place. An indoor playground that fuels his passion and provides his purpose. Five thousand square feet filled with hope, inspiration, and possibility.
“If you keep moving, you can keep moving. So, live long enough, your dreams can come true.”
