Patrick johnson sprinter biography

Sport

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Lord knows, the first Australians have had so much pain, suffering and injustice to contend with these past 222 years. They have faced it all, by and large, with a dignity that surpasses understanding, and have every right to feel proud of their achievements, sporting and otherwise.

— Doug Conway, Australian Associated Press

Famous Aboriginal athletes

• Benn Harradine, Australia's first Aboriginal field event athlet
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  Patrick Johnson (sprinter)

  Australian sprinter

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

  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]

  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 Olympi

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  I thought everyone lived on boats

  Patrick Johnson is the only Australian to break the 10-second barrier for the 100m, running 9.93 in 2003. In this extract from the Talking With TK podcast, Johnson reflects on his unusual entry into the world and his national-record run.

   

  I was born on a speedboat en route to Cairns Base Hospital. There’s a little mission called Yarrabah which is about an hour and a half outside Cairns and, of course, the fastest way when my mum was in labour was speedboat. I didn’t wait and it says I was born on a speedboat on my birth certificate.

   

  I thought everyone was born on speedboats. Unfortunately, my mum passed way in a car crash when I was two years old. My old man took me to live on a boat, which I did for 17 years. Again, I thought that’s what everyone did – you lived on a boat, went to school and went fishing.

   

  My dad was from County Carlow and he fell in love with my mum when he came here working. It was the ’60s and ’70s when you could work anywhere. He was a jack of all trades – a mechanic, boilermaker, che