2019 USATF Outdoor Championships

NCAA 1500m Champ Sinclaire Johnson Turns Pro

NCAA 1500m Champ Sinclaire Johnson Turns Pro

2019 NCAA 1500m champion Sinclaire Johnson of Oklahoma State announced her decision to forgo her remaining collegiate eligibility to turn professional.

Aug 13, 2019 by Lincoln Shryack
NCAA 1500m Champ Sinclaire Johnson Turns Pro

2019 NCAA 1500m champion Sinclaire Johnson will forgo her remaining collegiate eligibility to turn professional, the former Oklahoma State star announced Monday night on Instagram:


The 21-year-old broke the NCAA meet record on June 8 with her 4:05.98 win in Austin. Johnson subsequently finished fourth in the U.S. 1500m final on July 27 in Des Moines, Iowa, in a 4:03.72 personal best, missing a spot on the World Championship team by less than a quarter of a second.

She will be managed by Ricky Simms at PACE Sports Management, arguably the most prominent agent in track and field. Simms counts Usain Bolt and Mo Farah among his clients. 

Johnson has yet to announce a shoe sponsor.

The star miler stated after USAs last month that she intended to return to Oklahoma State this fall, but you have to imagine that her market exploded in the weeks that followed. 21-year-olds with 2:00/4:03 ability don’t come around very often in the U.S. For her part, Johnson suggested on Monday that her pro decision was surprising even to her.

“My running career, thus far, has had several transitions,” she wrote. “And the most exciting one has arrived sooner than I expected.”

With her decision, Johnson joins 2019 NCAA 1500m runner-up Jessica Hull as a new professional. Both women had another season of outdoor eligibility remaining.