Johnson was born in
East Ham, London, and educated at
East Ham Grammar School. He did his
National Service in Egypt before going up to
Lincoln College, Oxford, to read medicine in 1953. He pursued an
athletics career and finished second behind
Peter Fryer in the 440 yards event at the
1954 AAA Championships. This led to selection for the
1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in
Vancouver, where he subsequently represented
England in the
880 yards and the 4 x 440 yards relay. He won two gold medals in the individual
880 yards event and the
4 x 440 yards relay event with
Peter Higgins,
Peter Fryer and
Alan Dick. Johnson became the
British 880 yards champion after winning the British
AAA Championships title at the
1955 AAA Championships, and went on to win a silver and bronze medal representing
Great Britain at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, in the 800 metres and a bronze in the
4 x 400 metres relay respectively. He was a leading light in the setting up of the "athletes' union", the
International Athletes' Club, he led opposition to
Margaret Thatcher's call for sportsmen to boycott the
1980 Moscow Olympics. Johnson competed for
Woodford Green AC, where he was coached to his success by Ken Bone and was later awarded Life Membership. In the 1980s he also became a member of the Serpentine Running Club and ran several London Marathons. A great ally of David Bedford and a leading administrator in athletics. == References ==