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]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality |  Australia | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 26 September 1972 (age 52) Cairns, Queensland, Australia | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 73 kg (161 lb) | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 100 metres, 200 metres | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal bests | 100 m: 9.93 (Mito 2003) AR 200 m: 20.35 (Malmö 2006) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||
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
editJohnson'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
edit| 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
edit| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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] |
Track records
editAs of 6 September 2024, Johnson holds the following track records for 100 metres and 200 metres.
100 metres
edit| Location | Time | Windspeed m/s |
Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bern | 10.07 | – 0.3 | 28/06/2003 |
| Mito, Ibaraki | 9.93 AR |
+ 1.8 | 05/05/2003 |
| Perth, Western Australia | 9.88 | + 3.6 | 08/02/2003 |
200 metres
edit| Location | Time | Windspeed m/s |
Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campbelltown, New South Wales |
20.26 | + 2.6 | 15/02/2003 |
References
edit- ^ 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) - ^ a b Jad Adrian (July 2011). Lists of The Fastest White Men in History, Non-African Descent. AdrianSprints.com. Retrieved 2011-07-30.[unreliable source?]
- ^ a b 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.[unreliable source?]
- ^ "Australian Indigenous Olympians" (PDF). Australian Olympic Committee website. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
- ^ "Patrick Johnson: Olympic sprinter". 8 August 2023.
- ^ "Patrick Johnson's golden run". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 28 July 2021.
- ^ 6th (h) / 38.76 (relay leg: 1st)
- ^ a b c d e Representing Oceania
- ^ Competed only in the final
- ^ Competed only in the heat
External links
edit- Patrick Johnson at World Athletics
- Patrick Johnson at Australian Athletics Historical Results
- Australian Story - ABC TV
