Director of Illinois track, field and cross country Petros Kyprianou has announced the hiring of Olympian Garrett Scantling as an assistant coach on Tuesday (July 15). Scantling will primarily assist Kyprianou with coaching the jumps and combined events crews.

Scantling finished fourth in the decathlon at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games with a score of 8,611 points. He recorded personal bests in the 400m (48.25) and 1500m (4:35.54) as part of that decathlon. To qualify to the Olympics, he won the U.S. Olympic decathlon trials in Eugene, Ore. with a score of 8,647 points.

In 2022 he won two national titles: first in the indoor season at the 2022 US Indoor Championships in the heptathlon with 6,382 points and then later that summer in the decathlon at the 2022 USA Combined Events Championships with 8,867 points. Both point totals are his personal-best scores in their respective disciplines.

Scantling saw great success at the NCAA level competing for the Georgia Bulldogs under Kyprianou. Highlighted by being the national runner-up in the heptathlon at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships scoring 6,068 points. In his senior year he earned bronze in the heptathlon at the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships (5,951 points). His first NCAA medal came in his freshman year where he was the bronze medalist in the heptathlon at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships (6,017 points).

In the fall of 2019, Scantling returned to Georgia to work as an assistant coach with Kyprianou on the track and field team, where he stayed until 2021. In 2022 he returned to Episcopal School of Jacksonville where he was the strength and conditioning coach while coaching three sports: football, girls weightlifting and track and field.