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Margaret Johnston (bowls)

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For the actress, see Margaret Johnston.

Margaret Johnston
MBE
Personal information
NationalityBritish (Northern Irish)
Born (1943-05-02) 2 May 1943 (age 81)
Sport
ClubBallymoney
Medal record
Representing Ireland
World Outdoor Bowls Championships
Gold medal – first place 1988 pairs
Silver medal – second place 1988 singles
Bronze medal – third place 1988 team
Gold medal – first place 1992 singles
Gold medal – first place 1992 pairs
Silver medal – second place 1992 team
Gold medal – first place 1996 pairs
Gold medal – first place 2000 singles
Gold medal – first place 2004 singles
Atlantic Bowls Championships
Silver medal – second place 1997 singles
Silver medal – second place 1997 pairs
Gold medal – first place 1999 singles
Gold medal – first place 1999 triples
British Isles Championships
Gold medal – first place 1985 singles
Gold medal – first place 1996 singles
Gold medal – first place 1997 singles
Gold medal – first place 1999 singles
Gold medal – first place 1985 pairs
Gold medal – first place 2007 pairs
Gold medal – first place 1992 triples
Representing  Northern Ireland
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 1986 pairs
Bronze medal – third place 1990 singles
Gold medal – first place 1994 singles
World Indoor Bowls Championships
Gold medal – first place 1988 Singles

Margaret Johnson MBE (born 2 May 1943) is a former Northern Irish lawn and indoor bowler.

Bowls career

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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

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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[1] 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.[2]

Commonwealth Games

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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.[3] In between the two gold medal successes was a bronze medal in the singles at the 1990 Games.[4]

Atlantic Championships

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In 1997 she won the singles and pairs silver medals at the Atlantic Bowls Championships.[5][6] Two years later she won the singles and triples gold medal at the Championships.[7][8] 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

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The first Irish National Bowls Championships title came in 1983 and then she went from strength to strength creating an incredible record.[9] She turned back the clock in 2017 when she won the fours title at the Irish National Championships.[10]

Johnston also holds the record number for women's singles titles at the British Isles Bowls Championships, winning four in 1985, 1996, 1997 & 1999.[11][12]

In addition to her World outdoor and Commonwealth titles she was also the 2004 World Singles Champion of Champions.[13]

World Indoor

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Johnston also won the 1988 World Indoor Bowls Championship title.

List of major wins

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Johnson's achievements include:[14]

Awards and retirement

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Johnston was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1991 New Year Honours for services to bowls.[15] She was voted BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year in 2004 and in 2008 announced her retirement from international bowls.[16]

References

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  1. ^ "Profile". Bowls Tawa.
  2. ^ "Johnston wins top BBC NI award". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  3. ^ "Athletes and Results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
  4. ^ "COMMONWEALTH GAMES MEDALLISTS - BOWLS". GRB Athletics.
  5. ^ "Dunwoodie, G. (1997) 'Hawes and Price take title for England'". The Times. 27 August 1997. p. 39. Retrieved 25 May 2021 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  6. ^ "Dunwoodie, G. (1997) 'Price savours singular feat'". The Times. 3 September 1997. p. 46. Retrieved 25 May 2021 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  7. ^ "'Johnston maintains dominance' (1999)". The Times. 29 March 1999. p. 31. Retrieved 25 May 2021 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  8. ^ "'For the Record' (1999)". The Times. 25 March 1999. p. 53. Retrieved 25 May 2021 – via The Times Digital Archive.
  9. ^ Newby, Donald (1987). Daily Telegraph Bowls Yearbook 88. Telegraph Publications. ISBN 0-86367-220-5.
  10. ^ "Irish Women's Bowling Association National Championships". Irish Women's Bowling Association.
  11. ^ "Previous Winners". British Isles Bowls Council.
  12. ^ Sullivan, Patrick (1986). Guinness Bowls Records. Guinness Superlatives Ltd. ISBN 0-85112-414-3.
  13. ^ "Bowls: Forsyth takes out world title". NZ Herald.
  14. ^ "Margaret Johnston". Ulster Sports Museum.
  15. ^ United Kingdom list:"No. 52382". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 1990. p. 14.
  16. ^ "Johnston quits international duty". BBC Sport.
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