Naib Subedar Jinson Johnson (born 15 March 1991) is an Indian middle-distance runner and an Indian Army Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) who specialises in the 800 and 1500 metres event. He participated in the 800 metres event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In 2018 Commonwealth Games he finished fifth setting a new national record in the 1500 metres race by breaking 23 year old record of Bahadur Prasad. Later in 2018, he went on to win the gold medal in the men's 1500m at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia with a timing of 3:44.72 in the final event, as well as a silver medal in 800 metres.

Jinson Johnson
Personal information
NationalityIndian
Born (1991-03-15) 15 March 1991 (age 33)
Chakkittapara, Kozhikode, Kerala, India
Military career
Allegiance India
Service/branch Indian Army
Years of service2009-present
Rank Naib Subedar
Sport
CountryIndia
SportTrack and field
Event(s)800 metres, 1500 metres
Achievements and titles
Personal best3:35.24 (1 September 2019)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  India
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Jakarta 1500 m
Silver medal – second place 2018 Jakarta 800 m
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Hangzhou 1500 m
Asian Championships
Silver medal – second place 2015 Wuhan 800 m
Bronze medal – third place 2017 Bhubaneswar 800 m

Early life edit

Johnson was born on 15 March 1991[1] in the town of Chakkittapara near Perambra in Kozhikode district, Kerala. He did his schooling at the St. George's High School in Kulathuvayal and graduation at the Baselius College in Kottayam. He trained at the Kerala Sports Council's sports hostel in Kottayam, before joining the Indian Army in 2009.[2] As of July 2015, he is posted as a junior commissioned officer at Hyderabad.[3] As of 2018, he holds the rank of Naib Subedar.[4]

Career edit

Johnson won the silver medal in the 800 meters event of the 2015 Asian Athletics Championships held in Wuhan with a time of 1:49.69. He also won three gold medals at the Asian Grand Prix in Thailand the same year.[2]

Johnson qualified for the 800 meters event at the 2016 Summer Olympics by clocking his personal best time of 1:45.98 at Bangalore in July 2016, meeting the Olympics qualification standard of 1:46.00.[5] Johnson broke the long standing national record of Sriram Singh in 800 meters in June 2018 when he clocked a time of 1:45.65 secs in Inter State Senior Athletics Championships .[6]

At the 2018 Asian Games he won a gold medal in the 1500m event while in the 800 m he won the silver medal finishing behind compatriot Manjit Singh, who won the gold medal .[7]

References edit

  1. ^ "JOHNSON Jinson - Olympic Athletics". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  2. ^ a b MV, Vijesh (2 August 2016). "Jinson Johnson on the right track". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  3. ^ Koshie, Nihal (12 July 2015). "Rising star Jinson Johnson hopes to climb higher". The Indian Express. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  4. ^ Gurung, Shaurya Karanbir (30 August 2018). "Indian defence forces shine at the 2018 Asian Games". The Economic Times. Retrieved 25 September 2018.
  5. ^ Sudarshan, N. (12 July 2016). "Renjith, Jinson and Dharambir make the cut to Rio". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Jinson Johnson breaks Sriram Singh 42-year-old 800m national record". Hindustan Times. 27 June 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  7. ^ Johnson, Jinson (28 August 2018). "Asian Games Day 10, LIVE updates: Manjit Singh, Jinson Johnson clinch gold and silver respectively in men's 800m". Firstpost. Retrieved 28 August 2018.

External links edit