Biographical Informaton

Running Accomplishments

Lifetime Honors

  • Only American to medal individually in Olympic Cross Country running

  • Named the best Black American distance runner of the last 50 years (first half of the 20th Century) by the Pittsburgh Courier

  • Member of US Distance Running Hall of Fame (1976)

Firsts

  • Two-time Black American Olympian

  • Black American to win an Olympic distance running medal

  • Black American to win an individual Olympic medal in a running (non-hurdle) race

  • Black American to win a National AAU Junior and Senior distance running championship

  • American to win the Spalding All-American distance Triple Crown in one season (Cross Country, 5 mile, 10 mile)

Olympics

1920 Olympics (Antwerp, Belgium):

  • Track 10,000 meters qualifying heat: Did not finish

1924 Olympics (Paris, France)

  • Track 10,000 meters final: 8th place (2nd American)

  • Cross Country: Individual Bronze (1st American), Team Silver

US National Cross Country Championships

  • 1921

  • 1922 (2nd at AAU)

  • 1924 (Olympic Qualifier)

US National Five Mile Championships

  • 1918 Junior Champion

  • 1921

  • 1922

  • 1923

US National Ten Mile Championships

  • 1921

  • 1922 (2nd at AAU)

  • 1924

Running Team Associations

  • Morgan College (1915-1916)

  • Camp Upton - Army (1918)

  • Salem-Crescent Athletic Club (1918)

  • Scholastics (1919)

  • Morgan Community Athletic Club (1920)

  • Edgar Thomson Steel Works Athletic Association (1921-1925)

Important Milestones

Birth

Robert Earl Johnson was born on March 10, 1891 in Woodstock, Virginia. He was adopted and raised by Robert P. & Mary T. Johnson in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Education

In 1908, Earl attended Morgan Academy in Lynchburg, Virginia. Later, he transferred to Morgan College Preparatory School in Baltimore and completed his course work in 1912. He then enrolled at Morgan College and graduated from there in 1916.

Early Sports

Earl was captain of the baseball team at Morgan College and played football, tennis and basketball.

First Race

Earl did not run a competitive race until he was 24 years old. He debuted at the Baltimore Afro-American Ledger Modified Marathon in 1915. Five thousand people witnessed him win the 5 mile race that was run through the city streets.

First National Title

Competing for Camp Upton (US Army) in 1918, Earl made his first splash on the national scene by winning the AAU Junior National Championship in the 5 mile race. The very next day he competed in the Senior championship 5 mile race and pushed a fresh Charles Pores to an American record.

Running at Morgan College

Encouraged by his Modified Marathon win, Earl began competing for the Morgan College track and field team. In one meet at Howard University, he won the 440 yard dash and set records in the one an two mile races. He finished undefeated while running for Morgan in 1915 & 1916.

Recruited to Pittsburgh

In 1919, renown black trainer Hunter Johnson recruited Earl to train with his local team in Pittsburgh. Hunter helped Earl secure a job as a community worker at the Morgan Community House, which sponsored a small team of elite black track and field athletes.

Local Racing Dominance

Earl won his first Allegheny Mountain AAU championship in 1919 in the one mile run, but was defeated by Red Weigle in the three mile race. That defeat would be his first and only loss in a race held in his new hometown of Pittsburgh.

Johnson Shocks Olympic Marathoners

Earl’s breakout 1920 championship season began with a surprising and convincing triumph in the Allegheny Mountain AAU ten mile race over two runners that recently qualified for the 1920 US Olympic Marathon team.

Olympic Qualifier

Earl pulled off an upset against heavy favorite Fred Faller in the 10,000 Meter Eastern Olympic Tryouts in Philadelphia. Faller later turned the tables by passing Earl on the homestretch, winning the final national tryout in Cambridge. In finishing second, Earl qualified for the 1920 Olympic team.

Disappointment at the 1920 Olympics

Earl became the first Black American athlete to compete in an Olympic distance running event. Bothered by cramps and hampered by the lack of training opportunities during the long boat voyage to Antwerp, Belgium, Earl dropped out of his qualifying heat of the 10,000 meter run in the 1920 Olympics.

Edgar Thomson Steel Works Stalwart

The Morgan Community House, which employed and sponsored Earl’s running, folded in 1921. A large steel plant in Braddock found a similar position for Earl as a welfare worker and athletic director in order to keep him training in Pittsburgh. Earl competed the rest of his career under the colors of Edgar Thomson Steel.

Long Distance Triple Crown

Undeterred by his disappointment at the Olympics, Earl became an indomitable force during the 1921 season—completing a clean sweep in all distance races by winning AAU titles in cross country, five miles and ten miles.

Rise of a Rival

Flying Finn Willie Ritola rose to prominence by winning distance races as part of the Finish-American Athletic Club in New York City. He developed into Earl’s greatest rival at National meets and later became an Olympic legend by winning six medals at the 1924 Olympics.

Return to the Olympics

Earl fended off younger harriers while winning the 1924 Olympic Qualifier Cross Country race at Van Cortland Park. Winning this race secured his spot on the 1924 US Olympic team.

1924 Olympic Cross Country Honors

Earl was the second American home and finished a respectable 8th place in the 1924 Olympic 10,000 meter final race. In one of the most grueling Olympic races ever recorded, Earl earned an individual bronze and team silver medal in the Cross Country event. The Flying Finns (Nurmi & Ritola) that finished ahead of him became the most decorated Olympians in any sport—winning a combined eleven medals at the 1924 games.

Fixture on Pittsburgh Sports Scene

After retiring from competitive running following the Olympics, Earl continued to be involved in the local sporting scene for many decades as a sports director, coach, sportswriter and supporter. He mentored a protégé, Rufus Tankins, who became the next great Black American distance runner. He coached several sports, and associated with and recruited a plethora of future Negro League baseball players to play on his Edgar Thomson Steel teams.

Death

Earl passed away at the Pittsburgh VA Hospital on November 18, 1965 due to heart failure, bladder cancer and kidney disease. His death went largely unrecognized.