Tim Johnston (runner)

Timothy Frederick Kembal Johnston (11 March 1941 – 9 October 2021) was a British long-distance runner.^[1] He competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics.^[2] In 1968, Johnston was a double British national champion and he won the silver medal in the men's event at the 1967 International Cross Country Championships.^[3] During the 1960s, Johnston set a British and World record in distance running.^[4]

Tim Johnston

Personal information
Nationality	British (English)
Born	(1941-03-11)11 March 1941 Oxford, England
Died	9 October 2021(2021-10-09) (aged 80) The Hague, Netherlands
Height	175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	61 kg (134 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	Long-distance running
Club	Portsmouth AC Cambridge University AC Achilles Club

Biography

Johnston was born in Oxford, England in 1941.^[1] In the 1950s, he attended Bedales School in Hampshire,^[5] before going to Trinity College, Cambridge.^[1] At Bedales, Johnston became a two-time Hampshire Schools mile champion.^[1] While at Trinity College, he became a cross-country runner.^[1]

Johnston finished third behind Maurice Herriott in the steeplechase event at the 1964 AAA Championships.^[6]

In 1968, he became the British 6 miles champion and the British marathon champion, after winning the British AAA Championships titles at the 1968 AAA Championships,^[7][8] including setting a British record in the six mile event.^[9] Later that year, at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, he represented Great Britain in the men's marathon,^[10] where he finished in eighth place.^[11] Also during the 1960s, Johnston won two Inter-Counties crowns and three Southern titles.^[4] Johnston also tried to compete at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, but suffered from an Achilles tendon injury.^[1]

Outside of sport, Johnston was also a solicitor and worked at the European Economic Community as a lawyer-linguist.^[4] He later went to work at the International Court of Justice in The Hague as a legal translator.^[1]

In 2016, Johnston wrote a biography on Otto Peltzer, a German middle distance runner,^[12] which was illustrated by fellow Olympian Donald Macgregor.^[13]