Brilliant Wishart triple jumper Aliyah Johnson poised to put injury torment behind her

Brilliant Wishart triple jumper Aliyah Johnson is poised to put years of torment behind her and fulfil her potential during the athletics season which starts this month.

Brilliant Wishart triple jumper Aliyah Johnson is poised to put years of torment behind her and fulfil her potential during the athletics season which starts this month.

The 21-year-old Johnson, a two-time World Youth Games representative, had been weighed down by injury but the dark clouds have now lifted.

The training regimen of her coach at Nathan-based Rouge Performance, Stacey Taurima, has agreed with her after spending several unfruitful years at the University of Georgia.

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“It (USA) was a great experience but athletically for me it was not very beneficial,’’ the Mt Gravatt Little Athletics Centre junior said. “I spent most of the time injured and I got swallowed up by the system.

Aliyah Johnson and her good friend and training partner Shemaiah James

“My training partner went to the Olympics, came fourth, broke the American record, so I was in a really good environment,but it did not work out for me.’’

Enter Taurima: “That is what I have been missing most of my athletics career, someone who believes in me, pushes me,’’ Johnson said.

Aliyah Johnson prior to the IAAF World Junior Championships several years ago. Photo: Paul Guy

“He coaches with passion. “I am always excited to come to training and see Stacey and see his different ways he explains things. He is a bit out of the box but it really helps me.’’

Johnson, a Moreton Bay College past student, said while the US was a write-off on the athletics track, she was a better person for the experience.

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“I think being over there really showed me what I need to learn in terms of being an athlete.

At the end of the day I feel like I needed that trip and that experience to come out better on the other side.’’

This season she aims to break the Australian long jump record and gain world championship selection.