AUBURN, Ala.— Auburn track and field head coach Ken Harnden has been named one of three finalists for the 2026 World Athletics Coach of the Year award, World Athletics announced.
Harnden joins Felipe de Siqueira of Brazil and Rolando “Lonnie” Greene of the Bahamas as finalists for the honor, which recognizes coaches whose leadership, commitment and expertise have played an instrumental role in the success of athletes at the highest level of the sport.
Named Auburn’s head coach in July, Harden joined Auburn in 2022, and he has helped lead the program to four consecutive NCAA team trophies while developing NCAA champions, collegiate record-holders, world-class sprinters and elite hurdlers.
A two-time Olympian representing Zimbabwe, Harnden is an eight-time USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year, including five times at Auburn.
This past season, Harnden's coached Auburn standouts Ja’Kobe Tharp and Kayinsola Ajayi, who enjoyed historic 2026 campaigns.
Tharp captured his fourth consecutive NCAA title in the 110-meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, setting a world record of 12.75 in the semifinals before winning the final. He later captured the 110-meter hurdles title at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
Under Harnden's guidance, Tharp has progressed from an SEC champion and world U20 champion to a four-time NCAA champion, world record-holder and global champion. His world record at the NCAA Championships marked the first time in 50 years that a world record had been broken at the meet.
In 2026 Harden coached Tharp and Ajayi to a historic sweep of the NCAA indoor and outdoor sprint and sprint hurdles championships. Ajayi broke the collegiate 60-meter record indoors with a time of 6.45 before winning the NCAA outdoor 100-meter title. Auburn's men's 4x100-meter relay also established a collegiate record of 37.75 in the NCAA semifinals.
Harnden's Auburn sprinters accounted for 96 percent of the men's team points scored at NCAA indoor and outdoor championships during his four seasons on the Plains. His Auburn sprinters have combined for six individual NCAA titles, two relay national championships and six SEC titles.
A veteran of 23 years of NCAA Division I coaching, Harnden has coached 24 Olympians and helped produce 31 individual NCAA champions, four relay national champions and more than 200 first-team All-Americans. He has been part of five NCAA team championships and earned eight USTFCCCA National Assistant Coach of the Year awards.
The Coach of the Year honor builds on the previous World Athletics Coaching Achievement Award. Members of the Coaches’ Commission, established at the end of 2025, selected the long list of nominees as part of a revamped voting system. Area coaches’ associations, or alternative nominated bodies in areas where a coaches’ association is not established, then voted by ranking the nominees to ensure full voting representation across all six areas to determine the three finalists and one winner.
The winner will be announced live on stage during the World Athletics Awards on Sunday, Nov. 29.