Margaret Johnston (bowls)
{{Short description|Northern Irish bowler}}
{{for|the actress|Margaret Johnston}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| headercolor =
| name = Margaret Johnston
{{nobold|{{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}}}}
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| nationality = British (Northern Irish)
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|5|2|df=y}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| club = Ballymoney
| medaltemplates =
{{MedalCountry|25px Ireland}}
{{MedalCompetition|World Outdoor Bowls Championships}}
{{MedalCompetition|Atlantic Bowls Championships}}
{{MedalSilver|1997 |singles}}
{{MedalSilver|1997 |pairs}}
{{MedalGold|1999 |singles}}
{{MedalGold|1999 |triples}}
{{MedalCompetition|British Isles Championships}}
{{MedalGold|1985|singles}}
{{MedalGold|1996|singles}}
{{MedalGold|1997|singles}}
{{MedalGold|1999|singles}}
{{MedalGold|1985|pairs}}
{{MedalGold|2007|pairs}}
{{MedalGold|1992|triples}}
{{MedalCountry|{{NIR}}}}
{{MedalCompetition|Commonwealth Games}}
{{MedalCompetition|World Indoor Bowls Championships}}
}}
Margaret Johnson MBE (born 2 May 1943) is a former Northern Irish lawn and indoor bowler.
Bowls career
Johnston is arguably the greatest women's player of all time despite only starting outdoor bowling in 1979. From Bellaghy, County Londonderry, she joined an indoor club and played locally for many years before joining the Ballymoney Club. In her first year of the outdoors game Johnston reached the final of the Irish Singles.
=World Outdoor=
Her record in the World Outdoor Bowls Championship reads as six golds, two silver and one bronze. In 1988 she was pairs champion with Phillis Nolan, silver in the singles and bronze in the team. Four years later she won the singles and pairs (with Nolan again) and a silver in the team. In 1996 she won a third consecutive pairs title with Nolan{{cite web|url=https://bowlstawa.nz/titles/players/titles/2451|title=Profile|publisher=Bowls Tawa}} and four years later in the 2000 World Outdoor Bowls Championship she became singles Champion again. Finally in the 2004 World Outdoor Bowls Championship she won a record third singles title.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/4082977.stm |title=Johnston wins top BBC NI award |publisher=BBC Sport |access-date=10 November 2024 }}
=Commonwealth Games=
Johnston won the pairs gold medal with Freda Elliott at the 1986 Commonwealth Games and eight years later won a second gold medal after winning the singles competition in Canada. She represented Northern Ireland ins six consecutive Commonwealth Games from 1986 until 2006.{{cite web|url=https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/48974|title=Athletes and Results|publisher=Commonwealth Games Federation|access-date=5 April 2019|archive-date=11 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411095228/https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/48974|url-status=dead}} In between the two gold medal successes was a bronze medal in the singles at the 1990 Games.{{cite web |url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/commonwealth/bowls.htm|title=COMMONWEALTH GAMES MEDALLISTS - BOWLS|publisher=GRB Athletics}}
=Atlantic Championships=
In 1997 she won the singles and pairs silver medals at the Atlantic Bowls Championships.{{cite news |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0500852516/GDCS?u=oxfshlib&sid=GDCS&xid=af5dfd48|title=Dunwoodie, G. (1997) 'Hawes and Price take title for England'|date=27 August 1997 |newspaper=The Times |access-date=25 May 2021|page=39 |via=The Times Digital Archive|url-access=subscription }}{{cite news |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0500853993/GDCS?u=oxfshlib&sid=GDCS&xid=fc8942ed|title=Dunwoodie, G. (1997) 'Price savours singular feat'|date=3 September 1997 |newspaper=The Times |access-date=25 May 2021|page=46 |via=The Times Digital Archive|url-access=subscription }} Two years later she won the singles and triples gold medal at the Championships.{{cite news |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0500931282/GDCS?u=oxfshlib&sid=GDCS&xid=8481946c|title='Johnston maintains dominance' (1999)|date=29 March 1999 |newspaper=The Times |access-date=25 May 2021|page=31 |via=The Times Digital Archive|url-access=subscription }}{{cite news |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0500930383/GDCS?u=oxfshlib&sid=GDCS&xid=d7e584c0|title='For the Record' (1999)|date=25 March 1999 |newspaper=The Times |access-date=25 May 2021|page=53 |via=The Times Digital Archive|url-access=subscription }} Her medal haul would arguably have been greater but she refused to fund her own travel costs which the Irish Bowls authorities failed to fund.
=National Championships & Other=
The first Irish National Bowls Championships title came in 1983 and then she went from strength to strength creating an incredible record.{{cite book|last=Newby|first=Donald|title=Daily Telegraph Bowls Yearbook 88|year=1987|publisher=Telegraph Publications|isbn=0-86367-220-5}} She turned back the clock in 2017 when she won the fours title at the Irish National Championships.{{cite web|url=http://www.iwba.co.uk/Championships/IWBA-Championships.html|title=Irish Women's Bowling Association National Championships|publisher=Irish Women's Bowling Association}}
Johnston also holds the record number for women's singles titles at the British Isles Bowls Championships, winning four in 1985, 1996, 1997 & 1999.{{cite web|url=https://britishislesbowls.com/history-of-the-bibc/previous-winners/|title=Previous Winners|publisher=British Isles Bowls Council}}{{cite book|last=Sullivan|first=Patrick|title=Guinness Bowls Records|year=1986|publisher=Guinness Superlatives Ltd|isbn=0-85112-414-3}}
In addition to her World outdoor and Commonwealth titles she was also the 2004 World Singles Champion of Champions.{{cite web|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=3612150|title=Bowls: Forsyth takes out world title|publisher=The New Zealand Herald }}
=World Indoor=
Johnston also won the 1988 World Indoor Bowls Championship title.
List of major wins
Johnson's achievements include:{{cite web|url=http://www.ulstersportsmuseum.org/portraits/margaret-indepth.html|title=Margaret Johnston|publisher=Ulster Sports Museum}}
- 1986 Commonwealth Games Pairs Champion
- 1988 World Indoor Bowls Championship Singles Champion
- 1988 World Outdoor Bowls Championship Pairs Champion
- 1992 World Outdoor Bowls Championship Singles Champion
- 1992 World Outdoor Bowls Championship Pairs Champion
- 1994 Commonwealth Games Singles Champion
- 1996 World Outdoor Bowls Championship Pairs Champion
- 1997 Atlantic Bowls Championships Singles Champion
- 1997 Atlantic Bowls Championships Pairs Champion
- 2000 World Outdoor Bowls Championship Singles Champion
- 2004 World Outdoor Bowls Championship Singles Champion
Awards and retirement
Johnston was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1991 New Year Honours for services to bowls.United Kingdom list:{{London Gazette |issue=52382 |date=28 December 1990 |pages=14 |supp=y}} She was voted BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year in 2004 and in 2008 announced her retirement from international bowls.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/bowls/7226384.stm|title=Johnston quits international duty|publisher=BBC Sport}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{CGF profile|48974}}
- {{2006 Commonwealth Games profile}}
{{BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year winners}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Margaret}}
Category:Female lawn bowls players from Northern Ireland
Category:Commonwealth Games medallists in lawn bowls
Category:Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Northern Ireland
Category:Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Northern Ireland
Category:Bowls players at the 1986 Commonwealth Games
Category:Bowls players at the 1990 Commonwealth Games
Category:Bowls players at the 1994 Commonwealth Games
Category:Bowls players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games
Category:Bowls players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
Category:Bowls players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games
Category:Bowls World Champions
Category:Indoor Bowls World Champions
Category:Bowls European Champions
Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games
Category:Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games
Category:Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games
Category:Sportspeople from County Londonderry