Thornlie resident Christopher Johnstone (15) not only won gold medals at last month’s Special Olympics Junior National Games on the Gold Coast, he won them in different sports.
Camera IconThornlie resident Christopher Johnstone (15) not only won gold medals at last month’s Special Olympics Junior National Games on the Gold Coast, he won them in different sports. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Special Olympics: Thornlie athlete wins four golds

Ben SmithComment News

YOU may have heard of multi-sport athletes, but not many can claim to have won gold medals in multiple sports like Christopher Johnstone.

The 15 year-old Thornlie resident proudly represented WA at last month’s Special Olympics Junior National Games on the Gold Coast, winning four gold medals and one bronze in soccer and athletics.

The Corpus Christi student claimed four medals in track and field on his first day of competition, claiming gold in the 100m sprint, shot put and 4x100m relay and a bronze in the long jump.

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He then spearheaded WA’s victory in the soccer, scoring all four goals in their 4-2 victory over NSW.

Johnstone, who has a congenital heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot, said he was proud to represent his state and win medals.

“I wanted to go and show what talent I’ve got, the biggest thing was to try and get gold. I just wanted to focus on gold,” he said.

Johnstone admitted he had nerves ahead of the 100m race, but once he was running, the result took care of itself.

“We thought the gun was shot and everyone ran off and the judges told us to go back to our line, I didn’t want to be disqualified, I just wanted to do my best personal best,” he said.

The Lynwood United player, who idolises soccer players Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Diego Castro, said he wanted to work hard and hoped to represent his country at the Paralympics in the future.

“Every time I’m practicing for soccer, I want to practice and practice until I don’t fail because I want to score 10 out of 10 goals,” he said.

“I want to improve myself and get better, get stronger and not lose my confidence.”

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