Gillian Johnston (polo player)
{{short description|American polo player and patron}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Gillian Johnston
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| occupation = Polo player
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| parents = Summerfield Johnston Jr.
Gil Johnston
| relatives = Robert Johnston (brother)
Katherine Johnston Tudor (sister)
Lavinia Johnston (sister)
Summerfield Johnston III (brother)
}}
Gillian Johnston is an American polo player and patron.
Early life
Gillian Johnston is the daughter of Summerfield Johnston Jr., a business executive who served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Coca-Cola Enterprises from 1991 to 2001,{{Cite web |url=http://www.cokecce.co.uk/about-us/coca-cola-history.aspx |title=Coca-Cola Enterprises: Cola-Cola History |access-date=2015-02-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215212651/http://www.cokecce.co.uk/about-us/coca-cola-history.aspx |archive-date=2015-02-15 |url-status=dead }} and a polo player.[http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/sports/polo-gillian-johnston-bendabout-win-ylvisaker-cu-1/nLptp/ Polo: Gillian Johnston, Bendabout win Ylvisaker Cup match], The Palm Beach Post, February 6, 2011 Her mother, Gil Johnston, is a British-born horsebreeder and steeplechaser.Nicole Lever, [http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/gillian-johnstons-passion-horses-has-never-dwindled Gillian Johnston's Passion For Horses Has Never Dwindled], The Chronicle of the Horse, January 26, 2005 Her paternal great-grandfather, James F. Johnston, founded the Coca-Cola Bottling Company, the first Coca-Cola franchiser.[http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/feb/26/local-families-have-coke-connection/ Local families have Coke connection], Chattanooga Free Press, February 26, 2010Bob Sherwood, [http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/8ff3e92a-b19b-11e2-9315-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3SFEkQg6y James Packer packs up in England after rain-sodden season], Financial Times, June 15, 2013
She grew up at Bendabout farm in McDonald in Bradley County, Tennessee. Her brother, Summerfield Johnston III, died from polo-related injuries in 2007.Alex Webbe, [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1291&dat=20010218&id=iDRUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mI4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=4119,4423976 Polo's family feud], Boca Raton News, February 18, 2001
Polo
She reestablished the Bendabout Polo Club at her family farm in the 1990s.Horace A. Laffaye, The Polo Encyclopedia, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2004, p. 195 She is the patron and captain of the Coca-Cola Polo Team.Horace A. Laffaye, The Polo Encyclopedia, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2004, p. 76
She first competed in the U.S. Open Polo Championship in 1999.Horace A. Laffaye, Polo in the United States: A History, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Co., 2011, p. 223 Four years later, in 2003, they won the championship at the Royal Palm Polo Club in Boca Raton, Florida alongside Adam Snow, Miguel Novillo Astrada and Tommy Biddle. She and Sunny Hale are the only women to have won this championship.Geraldine Fabrikant, [https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/11/sports/on-horseback-mallet-in-hand-breaking-barriers-for-women.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 On Horseback, Mallet in Hand, Breaking Barriers for Women], The New York Times, December 10, 2013
In 2013, she won the Ylvisaker Cup alongside Sugar Erskine, Julio Arellano and Tommy Collingwood against Marc Ganzi's Audi team.[http://www.polotimes.co.uk/index.php?pg=35&story=1039 Coca-Cola wins Ylvisaker Cup], Polo Times, 26 February 2013Sharon Robb, [http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/sports/horse-dies-after-coca-colas-bittersweet-polo-victo/nWYhC/ Horse dies after Coca-Cola’s bittersweet polo victory], Palm Beach Post, February 24, 2013
She serves as the Vice President of the Polo Training Foundation.{{Cite web |url=http://www.polotraining.org/about/board.html |title=Polo Training Foundation: Our Board |access-date=2015-02-20 |archive-date=2015-01-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128115812/http://www.polotraining.org/about/board.html |url-status=dead }}
References
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Category:People from Bradley County, Tennessee