Patrick Johnson (sprinter)

Patrick Johnson (born 26 September 1972 in Cairns, Queensland, Australia) is an Australian athlete of Aboriginal and Irish descent. He is the current Oceanian and Australian record holder in the 100 metres with a time of 9.93 seconds, which he achieved in Mito, Japan, on 5 May 2003. With that time he became the first person not of African ancestry to break the 10-second barrier (Frankie Fredericks, a Namibian, had been the first non-West-African in 1991).[1] The time made him the 17th fastest man in history at the time and 38th man to crack the 10-second barrier.[2] He was regarded as the fastest man of non-African descent before Christophe Lemaitre ran 9.92 seconds in French National Championships in Albi on 29 July 2011.[3]

For other people named Patrick Johnson, see Patrick Johnson (disambiguation).

Patrick Johnson
Personal information
Nationality Australia
Born26 September 1972 (1972-09-26) (age 51)
Cairns, Queensland, Australia
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight73 kg (161 lb)
Sport
SportTrack and field
Event(s)100 metres, 200 metres
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)100 m: 9.93 (Mito 2003) AR

200 m: 20.35 (Malmö 2006)

60 m (indoor): 6.69 (Lisbon 2001)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Australia
Commonwealth Games
Bronze medal – third place2002 Manchester4×100 m relay

He reached the finals in both the 100 and 200 metres at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and the 200m final in the 2005 World Championships, where he finished 6th. He represented Australia at the Olympic Games in 2000. He finished his career with one Commonwealth Games medal: a bronze in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Personal life

Johnson's mother was a Kaanju Indigenous Australian and his father is of Irish descent.[2][3][4] He was born on a speed boat en route to Cairns base hospital.[5] His mother died when he was young, so he grew up on his father's mackerel trawler, and spent his childhood travelling the coast of Cape York with his siblings.[6] A chance entry into a 100m race in Queensland in his early 20s revealed his talent, and he later won a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. His career in athletics was somewhat shortened by his age, and he later worked in the Australian diplomatic service, and in Indigenous health.

In 2018, Johnson contributed a chapter entitled 'My Life's Voyage' to the 2018 biographical anthology Growing Up Aboriginal In Australia, edited by Anita Heiss and published by Black Inc.

Personal bests
Event Time Wind Venue Date Notes
Outdoor
100 m 9.93 s +1.8 m/s Mito, Japan 5 May 2003 Oceanian record
200 m 20.35 s +1.0 m/s Malmö, Sweden 22 August 2006
Indoor
60 m 6.69 s Lisbon, Portugal 11 March 2001

International competition record
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
Representing  Australia
1997 World Championships Athens, Greece 52nd (h) 200 m 21.45 (wind: +1.1 m/s)
1999 Universiade Palma de Mallorca, Spain 6th 200 m 21.06 (wind: -1.0 m/s)
2000 Olympics Sydney, Australia 32nd (qf) 100 m 10.44 (wind: +0.2 m/s)
28th (qf) 200 m 20.87 (wind: -0.2 m/s)
– (sf) 4×100 m relay DQ (relay leg: 4th)[7]
2001 World Indoor Championships Lisbon, Portugal 15th (sf) 60 m 6.69 PB
2002 Commonwealth Games Manchester, United Kingdom 3rd 4×100 m relay 38.87 (relay leg: 4th)
World Cup Madrid, Spain 7th 100 m 10.58 (wind: -0.3 m/s)[8]
7th 4×100 m relay 39.58 (relay leg: 4th)[8]
2003 World Championships Saint-Denis, France 23rd (qf) 100 m 10.27 (wind: +0.7 m/s)
31st (qf) 200 m 20.83 (wind: +0.6 m/s)
13th (sf) 4×100 m relay 38.90 (relay leg: 2nd)
2004 Olympics Athens, Greece 6th 4×100 m relay 38.56 (relay leg: 3rd)
2005 World Championships Helsinki, Finland 23rd (qf) 100 m 10.48 (wind: -2.0 m/s)
6th 200 m 20.58 (wind: -0.5 m/s)
5th 4×100 m relay 38.32 (relay leg: 4th)
2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 6th 100 m 10.26 (wind: +0.9 m/s)
4th 200 m 20.59 (wind: +0.5 m/s)
– (f) 4×100 m relay DNF (relay leg: 4th)[9]
World Cup Athens, Greece 8th 100 m 10.28 (wind: +1.1 m/s)[8]
5th 200 m 20.52 (wind: +0.1 m/s)[8]
6th 4×100 m relay 39.48 (relay leg: 2nd)[8]
2007 World Championships Osaka, Japan 17th (qf) 100 m 10.29 (wind: -0.6 m/s)
16th (sf) 200 m 20.73 (wind: -0.4 m/s)
2010 Commonwealth Games Delhi, India 7th (h) 4×100 m relay 39.53 (relay leg: 1st)[10]

References
  1. Swanton, Sygall, Will, David (15 July 2007). "Holy Grails". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 August 2012.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Jad Adrian (July 2011). Lists of The Fastest White Men in History, Non-African Descent. AdrianSprints.com. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
  3. Jad Adrian (July 2011). Christophe Lemaitre 100m 9.92s +2.0 (Video) - Officially the Fastest White Man in History. AdrianSprints.com. Retrieved 2011-07-30.
  4. "Australian Indigenous Olympians" (PDF). Australian Olympic Committee website. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  5. "Patrick Johnson: Olympic sprinter".
  6. "Patrick Johnson's golden run". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 July 2021.
  7. 6th (h) / 38.76 (relay leg: 1st)
  8. Representing Oceania
  9. Competed only in the final
  10. Competed only in the heat
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