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| Human Interest | |
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Further Personal Information | |
| Residence | Canberra, ACT, AUS |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Club / Team | Australian Institute of Sport [AIS]: Canberra, ACT, AUS |
Further Personal Information | |
| Higher education | International Relations - Australian National University: Canberra, ACT, AUS |
General Interest | |
| Hobbies | Languages and playing chess. (Athlete, 06 May 2002) |
| Injuries | A series of hamstring injuries hampered his performances during 2004. (Athletics Australia, 12 Jul 2004) He was forced out of the 2001 World Championships and Goodwill Games with a stress fracture in his left shin. (patrickjohnson.com.au, 10 Oct 2001) He missed the 1998 Commonwealth Games and the World Championships in 1999 due to back and hamstring injuries. (Sydney Morning Herald, 27 Nov 2001; Time Inc, 27 Jul 2000) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Why this sport? | "By chance and for fun I decided to run in the Australian University Games in Canberra in 1996 while I was studying. To my surprise I won the 100 metres, then flew up to Townsville that night for a trial game in rugby league. The next Friday night before playing a trial game on Saturday, the Australian Institute of Sport offered me a full-time scholarship. After one race in Canberra, I decided to take up the challenge of athletics." |
General Interest | |
| Most influential person in career | His ex-coach, Esa Peltola. "He was the only one who came down to me and said 'You'll be an international runner.' At the time I thought 'You've got to be kidding I've just had one race at the University Games'. In a way I thought who is this guy who's saying 'you're going to travel the world'. He was the foremost activist in getting me the scholarship and just tapering through and getting me to where I am today." (Time Inc, 27 Nov 2001) |
| Hero / Idol | His childhood heroes were Carl Lewis and Linford Christie. (Time Inc, 27 Nov 2001) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Name of coach | Anthony Giorgi |
| When and where did you begin this sport? | In October 1986 in Canberra, Australia. |
Further Personal Information | |
| Occupation | Administrator |
| Languages | English |
General Interest | |
| Sporting philosophy / motto | "I love getting beaten. That's probably the weirdest thing, that I love somebody beating me so much," Johnson says. "It just inspires me along the way to improve myself, to better myself." (ABC, 27 Nov 2001) |
Sport Specific Information | |
| Coach from which country? | Wales |
General Interest | |
| Other information | RETIREMENT Will make a decision on whether he will continue to run at the end of this year's 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games. He is quoted as saying. "The Commonwealth Games and then that's it, I'll decide what to do after that". (smh.com.au, 03 Aug 2010) DISAPPOINTMENT Lodged an appeal against Athletics Australia, citing that they tried to force him out of the sport and into retirement. He failed to secure an Olympic berth after a failed start in the 100m final and failing to finish the 200m race at the Olympic trials in Brisbane, 2008. (theaustralian.com.au, 03 Aug 2010) UPBRINGING He was born on a speedboat en route to Cairns base hospital from the Lockhart River family home. He spent the next 15 years living on the high seas with his dad and two Chihuahuas on a mackerel trawler, grabbing schooling when he could on the north Queensland coast of Australia. "I think, for me, it was just the way of life - going to different schools, sort of camping on different islands," Johnson says. "You could say I should have been a swimmer instead of a runner, because I did a lot more swimming than running. It was a good experience, I think." (Sunday Telegraph, 12 Sep 1999, ABC, 21 Nov 2001) EDUCATION As a 17-year-old, he was awarded a scholarship to an international boarding college in Moss Vale, where the majority of students were from Asia and he eventually learnt to speak Cantonese. He went on to study Human Rights and Asian studies at the Australian National University. He is a budding diplomat, who has qualifications in foreign affairs and is proficient in a number of languages. (Athletics Australia, 17 Jul 2000, Athletics Australia Season Guide 2001, 01 Jan 2001) |
| Awards and honours | He became the first Australian to run sub 10s for 100m in May 2003. His 9.93s in Mito, Japan lowered the Australian record by 0.1s. Earlier in the Australian season he ran 9.88s and 9.90s in Perth but the times weren't legal because of excessive tailwinds. (patrickjohnson.com.au, 16 Jan 2006) |
| Ambitions | "To be able to walk away from athletics and be satisfied that I have achieved what I set out to do. And I also wouldn't say no to an Olympic gold medal." (patrickjohnson.com.au, 12 Jul 2004) |
| Memorable sporting achievement | Competing in the IAAF 2006 World Cup in Athens, Greece. (AIS, 10 Sep 2007) |