TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State Athletics continues its year-long celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Title IX today by recognizing the life and impact of Sycamore Hall of Famer Felisha Johnson.
ISU Athletics will be spotlighting a different pioneer or trailblazer every month starting in August 2022 and carrying through June 2023. The ISU Title IX series is brought to you in partnership with the Hamilton Center.
Felisha Johnson cemented herself as one of the most legendary athletes in Indiana State history after earning a spot on Team USA for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio following a third-place finish in the shot put at the U.S. Olympic Trials. She became the first American Sycamore to ever qualify for Olympic Team USA in track and field.
Johnson became just Indiana State's second-ever Olympian to compete in track and field following Greggmar Swift's trip to the London Games in 2012 for his home country, Barbados. Former track athlete Bryan Leturgez made an Olympic team as well, but in the Winter Games in the bobsled in both 1992 (Albertville) and 1994 (Lillehammer).
Johnson's accolades during her time at Indiana State include being a two-time NCAA National Champion in the weight throw (2011 & 2013) and a nine-time NCAA All-American spanning both the NCAA indoor and outdoor track & field championships. To date, Johnson still holds the school records in the indoor shot put (58-04.75 – 2013), indoor 20 lb. weight throw (77-02.00 – 2013), and outdoor shot put (59-11.25 – 2013).
Johnson was a three-time Indoor All-MVC selection (2011, 2012, 2013) and two-time Outdoor selection (2012, 2013). She was also the 2013 Missouri Valley Most Valuable Field Athlete. During her time at Indiana State she also was a 2012 Olympic Trials participant in the shot put finishing 13th in the event.
Her last appearances as a college athlete came at the 2013 Summer Universiade where she placed seventh in the shot put in her international debut for the United States.
After graduating from Indiana State, Johnson began competing in the shot put as a professional athlete.
She opened her professional career at the 2013 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships placing fifth in the event. Johnson's success led to her signing a contract in 2014 with Nike, Inc. placing herself among the world's top shot putters.
She came in third at the 2014 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships behind Michelle Carter and Jeneva Stevens, then improved to second place to Carter at the 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, setting a new personal record of 19.18m in the process. She placed seventh on the global lists that year and was the second-best American behind Carter.
Johnson achieved her first national title at the 2015 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, edging Jeneva Stevens in the weight throw by two centimeters with a personal record of 23.45m. She competed on the international Diamond League circuit for the first time and set her season's best mark of 18.73m in Beijing, where she was third.
Johnson was in top form in the 2016 season. A personal record of 23.53m in the weight throw at the 2016 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships brought her only third behind Gwen Berry and Amber Campbell in a high-quality competition. In the outdoor season she reached 19.26m in the shot put to place third at the 2016 United States Olympic Trials, earning her first placement on an American Olympic team.
Mostly recently, she also competed at the 2023 USA Indoor Championships held in Albuquerque, N.M. on February 16-18. She finished fourth overall in the field in the women's shot put with a distance of 17.53m.
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