Sinclaire Johnson of the United States (center) and Jessica Hull of Australia (center right) compete in the women’s 1,500-meter final on Day 4 of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 at Hayward Field on July 18, 2022, in Eugene.
Sinclaire Johnson of the United States (center) and Jessica Hull of Australia (center right) compete in the women’s 1,500-meter final on Day 4 of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 at Hayward Field on July 18, 2022, in Eugene. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)Getty Images
When it came down to it, former U.S. champion Sinclaire Johnson didn’t want to leave Portland.
That explains why Johnson trains solo on the Nike campus after the company reorganized its distance running groups this year around hubs in Eugene, Provo, Utah, and Flagstaff, Ariz.
As part of the decision, Nike disbanded the elite professional contingent of the Bowerman Track Club and ceased funding the Union Athletic Club. As recently as 2022, both groups were based in Portland. The UAC, Johnson’s competitive home for the previous three years, moved to Boulder, Colo. in the offseason.
“It’s a little sad,” says Johnson, who will be on the start line for what is expected to be an historically fast women’s 1,500 meters Saturday in the Prefontaine Classic at Hayward Field in Eugene. “I think Nike World Headquarters is a great place to train. Hopefully, in the future they will bring back a team here.”
The 50th Prefontaine Classic, the only meet in the Americas that is part of the elite Diamond League circuit, begins at 10 a.m. with the men’s hammer. Early events will be streamed on USATF.TV. Live television on Peacock and NBC starts at 1 p.m.
The 27-year-old Johnson, the 2022 U.S. champion, is expected to be part of a field including five-time U.S. outdoor champ Shelby Houlihan, former University of Oregon star and 2024 Olympic silver medalist Jessica Hull, 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Georgia Hunter Bell, three-time reigning Olympic gold medalist and world record-holder Faith Kipyegon.
The field is world class. The pace is expected to be as well.
“To my knowledge, the race is being set up for Faith to run the world record,” Johnson says. “I’m not too concerned about time because I think if I’m putting myself in position well throughout the race, I think the time will come. The focus is on just competing and trying to treat this like a world final.”
Kipyegon’s record is 3 minutes 49.04 seconds. Johnson, who tuned up by breezing to victory in the 1,500 at the Portland Track Festival two weeks ago in 4:01.46, says she is ready for the challenge.
“I’m looking forward to putting myself up near the front and see what happens,” she says.
When last on the Hayward track, Johnson finished fourth in the 1,500 at last summer’s U.S. Olympic Trials. She clocked a career-best 3:56.75 and still missed one of the event’s three roster spots on the U.S. team for the Paris Olympics.
Compounding her frustration, she was coming off an injury-hampered spring last year that included a stress fracture in her left leg that forced an abbreviated buildup. She still recorded a two-second personal record in the final.
“As heartbreaking as that race was, I do think I took a huge step forward in my confidence as a 1,500 runner,” Johnson says. “It hasn’t been easy to put it behind me, but it’s more fuel to the fire.”
It also helped convince her to strike out on her own when everyone else left Portland. She is being coached by her fiance, Craig Nowak, who starred at Oklahoma State and has competed professionally.
Johnson describes it as a collaborative coach-athlete relationship in which she has a major say in her training and can adjust on the fly.
“I have complete individualization,” she says. “At this point in my career, that’s where I’m at and what I’m wanting.”
As a Nike-sponsored athlete, Johnson has access to all the facilities on the Nike campus. She is welcome at the Nike hubs in Eugene, Utah and Arizona and spent time this year training at altitude in Flagstaff and Park City, Utah.
So far, so good. The indoor season went well. Johnson placed second behind Nikki Hiltz in the 1,500 at the USA Track & Field Championships and was sixth in the World Athletics indoor final.
Other than a slight case of knee tendinitis, she has been healthy and expects to be ready Saturday when the gun goes off at Hayward. When the USATF Outdoor Championships take place later this summer in Eugene, she believes she has a real shot to make the U.S team for the World Athletics Outdoor Championships in September in Tokyo.
However the season goes, Portland will remain Johnson’s home. She loves the outdoor lifestyle, the mild, year-round climate, the size and quirkiness of the city. She and Nowak have a close group of friends.
“We’ve created real roots here,” she said. “It’s where we feel at home.”
Notes: Ryan Crouser, a Gresham native who is three-time Olympic gold medalist and world record-holder in the shot, and two-time Olympic gold medalist Jakob Ingebrigtsen have withdrawn from the meet. Ingebrigtsen had been announced as part of the field for the Bowerman Mile.
Leave a Reply