Allen Johnson

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

Allen Kenneth Johnson (born March 1, 1971) is an American former hurdling athlete who won the gold medal in the 110 metre hurdles at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He is also a four-time world champion.

Allen Johnson

Johnson at 2007 ISTAF Berlin
Personal information
Nationality	American
Born	(1971-03-01) March 1, 1971 (age 54) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight	165 lb (75 kg)
Sport
Sport	Sprint
Event	Hurdling
College team	North Carolina Tar Heels
Medal record Men's athletics Representing the  United States Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta 110 m hurdles World Championships 1995 Gothenburg 110 m hurdles 1997 Athens 110 m hurdles 2001 Edmonton 110 m hurdles 2003 Paris 110 m hurdles 2005 Helsinki 110 m hurdles World Indoor Championships 1995 Barcelona 60 m hurdles 2003 Birmingham 60 m hurdles 2004 Budapest 60 m hurdles 2008 Valencia 60 m hurdles IAAF World Cup 2006 Athens 110 m hurdles 1994 London 110 m hurdles 2002 Madrid 110 m hurdles

Born in Washington, D.C., an all-round athlete, Johnson attended University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and excelled at high jump, long jump and decathlon as well as hurdles. He was the 1992 NCAA Indoor Champion for 55 meter hurdles but did not win the outdoor championship.

Career

Johnson was troubled by injury in 2000 but still made the final at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, just missing out on adding to his medal collection by finishing fourth.

2003 in the Stade de France, saw Johnson win his fourth IAAF World Championships in Athletics 110 m hurdles title when he beat Terrence Trammell into second to overtake the three world championship gold medals that Greg Foster had won at the event.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics he tripped over a hurdle in the 2nd preliminary round and was unable to finish the race and reach the final. He was however ranked world's number 1 throughout 2004's season.

Johnson was trained by Curtis Frye, at the University of South Carolina where he served as a volunteer assistant coach. Formerly, the sprint and hurdles coach at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO, Johnson is now the Assistant Head Coach at the North Carolina State University under Rollie Geiger.^[1][2]

His personal best is 12.92 seconds, only 0.01 seconds short of the then-world record held by Colin Jackson. Johnson has legally finished 11 races in less than 13 seconds, which was the most all time until Grant Holloway secured 12 on September 6, 2024.^[3] His 12.96 (+0.4) set while winning the 2006 IAAF World Cup at age 35, is the Masters M35 World Record. Johnson officially retired in July 2010, at the age of 39. Daughter, Tristine Johnson,^[4] competes as a 2014 senior^[5] at his alma mater University of North Carolina.

Achievements

(110 Meter Hurdles unless stated)

• 1994
  • 1994 IAAF World Cup – London, England
    • Silver
• 1995
  • 1995 World Championships in Athletics – Gothenburg, Sweden
    • Gold
  • 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Barcelona, Spain
    • 60 Meter Hurdles, Gold
• 1996
  • 1996 Summer Olympics – Atlanta, Georgia
    • Gold, Olympic record
• 1997
  • 1997 World Championships in Athletics – Athens, Greece
    • Gold
• 1998
  • 1998 Goodwill Games – Uniondale, New York
    • Silver
• 2000
  • 2000 Summer Olympics – Sydney, Australia
• 2001
  • 2001 World Championships in Athletics – Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
    • Gold
  • Goodwill Games – Brisbane, Australia
    • Gold
• 2002
  • 2002 IAAF World Cup – Madrid, Spain
    • Silver
• 2003
  • 2003 World Championships in Athletics – Paris, France
    • Gold
  • 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Birmingham, England
    • 60 Meter Hurdles, Gold
• 2004
  • 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Budapest, Hungary
    • 60 Meter Hurdles, Gold
• 2005
  • World Championships in Athletics – Helsinki, Finland
    • Bronze
• 2006
  • IAAF World Cup – Athens, Greece
    • 110 Meter Hurdles, Gold

Track records

As of 11 September 2024, Johnson holds the following track records for 110 metres hurdles.

Location	Time	Windspeed m/s	Date
Atlanta, GA	12.92	+0.9	23/06/1996
Brisbane	13.16	–0.4	05/09/2001
Carson	12.99	+0.2	24/06/2005
Chania	13.22	+1.5	14/06/2000
Chapel Hill	13.19	0.0	17/05/1997
Clemson, SC	13.22	+0.1	16/05/1998
Cologne	12.98	+0.2	18/08/1995
Edmonton	13.04	–0.3	09/08/2001
Fort-de-France	13.04	+1.7	27/04/2002
Gothenburg	13.00	–0.1	12/08/1995
Hermosillo	13.39	+1.3	21/05/2005
Mexico City	13.08	–0.2	22/05/2004
Palo Alto, CA	13.08	–0.1	23/06/2002
Portland	13.27	+0.5	25/06/2000
Raleigh, NC	13.22	–0.5	12/06/1999
Rome	13.01	+0.8	07/07/1999
Sacramento, CA	12.97	+1.5	23/07/2000