The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

HE was off to a blistering start up until 2018 when he got sidelined by the injury bug. Four years later, Joel Johnson is hoping to make a comeback. His aim is to re-emerge as one of the top male sprinters in The Bahamas.

The 2018 graduate of St Augustine’s College, who won the CARIFTA Games under-20 boys’ 100 metres and the silver in the 200m the same year at home at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium, went on to the IAAF World Under-20 Championships Tampere 2018 where he was a member of the boys’ 4 x 100m relay pool.

A year later, Johnson produced one of the fastest times by any Bahamian male sprinter when he lowered the Bahamian junior national record to 10.19 on July 26, 2019 at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations Nationals in Grand Bahama.

Johnson, who also posted a personal best of 20.87 in the 200m on June 17, 2018, remembers those good old days. He said he’s now in a better place than he was dealing with a series of injuries that have sidelined him over the past few years.

“It’s been a lot of ups and downs over the past three years, but I’m in a much better place today than I was back then,” said Johnson, who first suffered a left hamstring injury in 2018.

“After the first injury, I suffered an injury on my right leg, so it was rough. I’m in pretty good shape and I’ve been training because this is what I love to do and where I feel I need to be – on the track running.

Having had to pass up an opportunity to secure an athletic scholarship to college because of the nagging injuries he sustained, Johnson is now enrolled at the Bahamas Technical & Vocational Institute where he is studying business management.

He credited his deceased father Maxwell Johnson, who passed away last year, his family, coach and friends, for the words of encouragement to enable him to continue to pursue his dream of being a professional athlete.

“My father, before he died last year, told me that life is not easy and I just have to persevere through it, even though it might be hard,” said Johnson, who is the son of Daisy Dawkins and the sibling to McNeice, McRettina, McTavis and McChenier Johnson and Shireen Seymour. “My family was behind me from day one. They have been pushing me, despite what they’ve seen me go through. Regardless of how I feel, everyone, including my therapist, have assured me that I can do it.”

His coach Rashad Patton of SPIA – Speedy Performance Intelligent Athletes - said a lot of people have been asking when will Johnson be back.

Patton said he is scheduled to compete in a 400m this weekend to shake his legs out. But he said that Johnson won’t make his season debut in his specialty in the century until a meet in the United States at the end of the month. “He’s more much matured and focused,” said Patton, who has been coaching Johnson for the past seven years. “The good thing is he’s healthy and ready to go.”

Johnson said Patton believed in him from day one and he’s still there trying to get him to the next level. “He has always put his trust in me because he’s seen my talent from day one,” Johnson said of Patton. “He’s the only coach that I’ve been with since I started track, so I really appreciate what he’s been doing to get me back on track.”

Patton said the goal this year is for Johnson to return to the world stage, but this time at the World Championships in Eugene, Oregon, in August, not only in the 100m, but possibly as a member of the men’s 4 x 100m relay team, if the Bahamas succeeds in securing one.

“I just want to be able to represent my country again,” said the 6-foot tall Johnson. “Hopefully I can go under the 10-second barrier and represent my country at the highest level of the sport.”

And in order to be in that position, Johnson admits that he will have to be back at his old form where he was close to being another Bahamian to dip under the 10-second barrier.

“I just have to take care of body, eat right and get my rest,” he said. “I just have to keep working every day, no matter if it’s a good or a bad day in practice. Hopefully one day, I can break that 10-second barrier and be back on the world stage.”

For all those supporting him on his journey, especially when he was down and out of track, Johnson encourages them to continue to uplift him because he’s looking forward to some great things as he makes his return to the track this year.

Only two other Bahamians have ran either below or just at the 10-second barrier – Derrick Atkins, who did 9.91 to break the national record in picking up the silver on August 26 at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Japan and Samson Colebrooke with his 10.01 on June 5, 2019 in Queretaro, Mexico to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.