Sinclaire Johnson (born April 13, 1998) is an American

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

. She is the 2022 US champion over

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run 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 Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilometer ...

and has represented her country at the

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

and 2023 World Championships. Competing for

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

, 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, 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 Greater O ...

and went to

Lake Brantley High School Lake Brantley High School (LBHS) is located in Altamonte Springs, Florida, a suburban community approximately 13 miles (20 km) north of Orlando. It is a public high school serving grade levels 9–12 in Seminole County, FL, operated by Semi ...

where she won several state championships and famously broke the 2:10 barrier for the 800m setting a FHSAA meet record. She then competed collegiately for the

. Following her time at OSU, she joined the

Bowerman Track Club The Bowerman Track Club (BTC) is an American training group sponsored by Nike, Inc. It previously featured a professional team last coached by Jerry Schumacher and assistants Shalane Flanagan, Chris Solinsky, and Alex Ostberg. The non-professional ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

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 intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater. The program's mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates at the National ...

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, Iowa, Des Moines in central Iowa. It is the home of Iowa State University (ISU). According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Ames ha ...

. At the national meet in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

, 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

under coach

Jerry Schumacher Jerry Schumacher (born August 6, 1970) is an American coach for track and field and cross country. Since 2022, he has been the head coach of the University of Oregon's track and field and cross country programs. He has also served as the head ...

shortly thereafter.

Professional career

2020

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

Millrose Games The Millrose Games are an annual indoor athletics (track & field) meet held each February in New York City. Among the world's most prestigious indoor track meets, the games started taking place at the Armory in Washington Heights in 2012, after ...

Wanamaker Mile The Wanamaker Mile is a prestigious indoor mile race for elite middle distance runners held annually at the Millrose Games in New York City. Alongside Oslo's Dream Mile and Eugene's Bowerman Mile, the Wanamaker Mile is among the world's premi ...

, 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 Walnut is a city in the eastern part of Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. According to the 2020 census, the city had a population of 28,430. The greater Walnut Valley is located between the steep San Jose Hills to the nort ...

. 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 fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

, running the 1500 m at the

Prefontaine Classic The Prefontaine Classic is a track and field meet held at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Organized by the Oregon Track Club, it was previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events, and ...

. 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-Nikolayev (; née Mu; born June 8, 2002) is an American middle-distance runner. She is the youngest woman in history to hold Olympic and world titles in an individual track and field event. At the age of 19, Mu won the gold medal in th ...

chose to solely contest the 800 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 now serves as a final event of the D ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. 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, she paced

Gudaf Tsegay Gudaf Tsegay Desta (Amharic: ጉዳፉ ፀጋይ ደስታ; born 23 January 1997) is an Ethiopian Middle-distance running, middle- and Long-distance running, long-distance runner. She is the current women’s world record holder for 5,000 m (1 ...

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 Track and field athletes from Indianapolis 1998 births World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 21st-century American sportswomen