Back from Beijing: UCSD Senior Reflects on Competing at the Olympics

Christine Clark | September 22, 2008

Carrie Johnson smiles and poses for the camera during the Olympic Games.

More than 28,000 students are starting the fall quarter at UC San Diego Thursday, but only one of them has spent the past four years on a quest for Olympic gold. Carrie Johnson, 24, has competed in two Olympic Games as a flat-water kayaker. And she has done it all while battling an autoimmune condition that has kept her out of the water at times.

The UCSD senior suffers from Crohn’s Disease, which causes inflammation of the digestive tract. Whenever she travels, Johnson, who was diagnosed in 2003, packs her own food. For these Olympics, she carried healthy meals and snacks like brown rice, cliff bars and freeze-dried fruit in her paddle bag. She also continued to take the medication that helps her control her symptoms.

Her story has been an inspiration to many affected by Crohn's Disease. She has received many e-mails and calls from people suffering from the condition and from organizations seeking to help them.

“I’m very flattered,” Johnson said. “That’s the reason that I do talk about the disease; so I hope that I can help people.”

In Beijing, she came tantalizingly close to a spot in the finals of her sport. She posted strong times in the preliminary rounds of the flatwater kayak competition. But in the semifinals, she took fourth place and was behind South Africa’s Jennifer Hodson by only half a second.  Johnson said she was disappointed by her performance in that race, but feels positive about her overall Olympic experience.

 “Going to the Olympics is an amazing accomplishment,” she said. “But you can’t predict the races. There were people, who won, who weren’t expected to win, but that is why we were there; that is why we compete.”

In Beijing, Johnson enjoyed watching the track and field competitions at the Bird’s Nest stadium and meeting athletes like Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, winner of the gold medal in both the men’s 100-meter and 200-meter dash, and U.S. gymnast Shawn Johnson, who won one gold and three silver medals at these Olympics. But the UCSD senior said she liked watching the rush of the competition best. “There is something about lining up on the start line,” she said. “It’s one of my favorite things and I love seeing athletes win. I love the expression on their faces. You know they have worked so hard to get there.”

Before competing in Beijing, Johnson trained with her teammates in Komatsu, Japan. The clean air and tranquil setting helped her prepare for the Games during the first week of the Olympics. “I loved Japan,” she said. “It was nice staying out of the craziness of the Olympic Village and getting the opportunity to experience a different culture.”

Even before the Olympics, the Revelle College senior had an impressive athletic career. She competed in her first Olympics at the 2004 Athens Games, where she was the youngest member of the team. It was her first major international competition and she finished 10th in both of her events. In 2006, she won five national titles and a bronze medal at the World Cup.

Johnson and her training partner,
Maggie Hogan, on the water in Komatsu, Japan.

 Johnson said she was ready to take a break from kayaking after the Games, but is not staying off the water for long. She can’t say whether she will train for the next Olympic Games, but she plans to compete as a member of the USA Canoe / Kayak team for the next year.  She will continue to reside at the ARCO Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista and plans to kayak every day. “I still have a passion for the sport,” she said. “I wouldn’t go back if I didn’t love sport.”

 Meanwhile, being a full-time student again will be a transition for the elite athlete, but she said she is excited to graduate this spring.  “I know I want to pursue a career after UC San Diego,” she said. “I am really interested in forensic science.”