Sinclaire Johnson (born April 13, 1998) is an American middle-distance runner. She is the 2022 US champion over

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

and has represented her country at the

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

and 2023 World Championships. Competing for

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

, she won the 2019 NCAA 1500 m title. Johnson was raised in

Altamonte Springs, Florida Altamonte Springs is a suburban city in central Florida in Seminole County, Florida, United States, which had a population of 46,231 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is in the northern suburbs of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metro ...

and competed collegiately for the

. Following her time at OSU, she joined the Bowerman Track Club in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

in 2019. In 2021, she left Bowerman to join the Nike Union Athletics Club under coach Pete Julian.

Collegiate career

2017

Johnson made her collegiate debut competing for the

Oklahoma State Cowgirls The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University–Stillwater, Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Stillwater. ...

on January 14 in Lincoln, Nebraska, running 1:35.96 over 600 m. Concentrating on the 800 m her freshman year, she ended her season with a 2:10.95 season best and a 7th place finish at the Big 12 Championships.

2017-18

In her first collegiate cross country season, Johnson placed 28th at the Big 12 Championships and would go on to place 233rd at the national meet. After missing the bulk of the 2018 indoor season, Sinclaire opened her outdoor season on March 24 with an 800 m personal best of 2:09.55. After a 2:04.73 800 m personal best to take fifth at the Big 12 Championships, she shifted focus to the 1500 m where she qualified for the NCAA Championships with a 4:11.57 lifetime best clocking at the West Regional. At nationals, she was unable to make the final, finishing 24th overall in 4:27.72.

2018-19

Competing at the 2018 Big 12 Cross Country Championships, Johnson finished with a runner up performance in

Ames, Iowa Ames () is a city in Story County, Iowa, United States, located approximately north of Des Moines in central Iowa. It is best known as the home of Iowa State University (ISU), with leading agriculture, design, engineering, and veterinary medici ...

. At the national meet in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, she placed 48th. After winning the Big 12 indoor title in the 1000 m, Johnson competed at the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships, where she earned a third place finish anchoring the OSU DMR. Outdoors, Johnson won the Big 12 title over 800 m but chose to contest the 1500 m at the NCAA Championships. After setting a personal best of 4:09.50 at the West Regional meet she cruised to a first place finish at the national meet in Austin with a massive personal best of 4:05.98, breaking the meet record in the process. The next month, she competed at the USA Championships in Des Moines, where she placed 4th, just missing out on qualifying for the World Championships in Doha by less than a quarter of a second. Despite that, she set another 1500 m personal best of 4:03.72 in the process. In August 2019, Johnson announced her intention to turn professional, forgoing her final season of collegiate eligibility at OSU, and joining the Bowerman Track Club under coach Jerry Schumacher shortly thereafter.

Professional career

2020

Johnson made her professional debut on February 8, 2020, at the Millrose Games

Wanamaker Mile The Wanamaker Mile is an indoor mile run, mile race held annually at the Millrose Games in New York City. It was named in honour of department store owner Rodman Wanamaker. The event was first held in 1926 inside Madison Square Garden, which was the ...

, placing 12th in 4:34.65.

2021

On May 9, 2021, Johnson broke the 2-minute barrier in the 800 m for the first time, running a time of 1:59.91 in Walnut, California. Competing at the 2021 US Olympic Trials, she chose to contest both the 800 m and 1500 m. On June 18 and 19, Johnson competed in the heats and semis of the 1500 m, qualifying through to the finals on June 21. In the final, she place 12th in 4:08.81, missing the Olympic team. Turning her focus to the 800 m, she was unable to make it out of the first round, running 2:04.05 for sixth in her heat. At the end of the 2021 season, Johnson made the decision to leave the Bowerman Track Club, joining Pete Julian's newly named Union Athletics Club.

2022

On May 28, 2023, Johnson competed in her first ever

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

, running the 1500 m at the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University o ...

. She would go on to place fourth, breaking the 4-minute barrier, with a personal best of 3:58.85. In June, at the USA Championships, she took her first ever national title, winning the 1500 m in a time of 4:03.29, earning her a spot on Team USA for the 2022 World Championships in Eugene. At worlds, she qualified through to the final, placing fourth in her first round heat, and third in her semi-final. In the final, Johnson placed 6th, running 4:01.63, her second fastest 1500 m performance ever.

2023

Sinclaire opened her 2023 season winning a 800-1500 m double in the professional races at Nike Outdoor Nationals. At the USA Championships, Johnson aimed to defend her 1500 m national title, but just missed the podium, placing fourth in 4:03.49. Despite only placing fourth, she qualified to represent to represent the United States at the World Championships in Budapest after runner-up

Athing Mu Athing Mu (born June 8, 2002) is an American middle-distance runner. She is the youngest woman in history to own Olympic and world titles in an individual track and field event. At the age of 19, Mu won the gold medal in the 800 meters at the 20 ...

chose to solely contest the 1500 m. In Budapest, she ran a seasons best of 4:01.09 in the heats to advance to the semi-finals. In the semis she ran a time of 4:06.39, placing 11th in her heat, failing to advance to the final. On September 8, Johnson ran a seasons best 1500 m of 3:59.19 at the

Memorial Van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now the final event of the Diamond L ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. The following week, on September 16, she competed in the Diamond League Final held at the Prefontaine Classic, placing 12th in 4:03.21. The following day, alongside

Elise Cranny Elise Cranny (born May 9, 1996) is an American middle and long-distance runner. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics. High school Cranny was born in 1996. She attended Niwot High School in Colorado, where she won two cross country state c ...

, she paced

Gudaf Tsegay Gudaf Tsegay Desta (born 23 January 1997) is an Ethiopian middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist in the women's 5000 metres. At the World Athletics Championships, she won a bronze for the 1500 metres i ...

to a new 5000 m world record of 14:00.21.

Competition record

International Competitions:

National Championships:

NCAA Championships:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Sinclaire Living people American female middle-distance runners Oklahoma State Cowgirls track and field athletes Sportspeople from Indianapolis Track and field athletes from Indianapolis 1998 births World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States 21st-century American women