Yemi Mary John

Yemi Mary John
John in 2026
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (2003-05-03) 3 May 2003
Italy
Sport
SportTrack and field
Event
400 metres
College teamUSC Trojans
ClubWoodford Green with Essex Ladies
Achievements and titles
Personal bests400 m: 49.85 s (Tokyo, 2026)
Indoor
400 m: 51.55 s (Metz, 2026)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place2024 Paris4 × 400 m relay
World Championships
Silver medal – second place2023 Budapest4 × 400 m mixed
Bronze medal – third place2023 Budapest4 × 400 m relay
European Championships
Silver medal – second place2026 Birmingham4 × 400 m relay
Silver medal – second place2026 Birmingham4 × 400 m mixed
World Relays
Bronze medal – third place2026 Gaborone4 × 400 m mixed
European U23 Championships
Gold medal – first place2023 Espoo400 m
Gold medal – first place2025 Bergen4 × 400 m relay
Silver medal – second place2025 Bergen400 m
World U20 Championships
Gold medal – first place2022 Cali400 m
Bronze medal – third place2022 Cali4 × 400 m relay
European U20 Championships
Silver medal – second place2021 Tallinn400 m
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place2026 Glasgow4 × 400 m Mixed

Yemi Mary John (born 3 May 2003) is a British track and field athlete. She won the gold medal in the 400 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Under-20 Championships and the 2026 British Indoor Athletics Championships. She was a medalist in the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2024 Olympic Games, and 2023 World Athletics Championships.

Biography

John ran a new personal best to finish runner up in the 400 metres at the 2021 European Under-20 Championships in Tallinn.[1] She was a member of the British 4 × 400 m relay team that finished fifth at the 2022 World Indoor Championships held in Belgrade.[2]

Yemi was crowned the winner at the 2022 World U20 Championship 400 m event in Cali, Colombia as she lowered her personal best throughout the rounds to win the final in 51.50 seconds, the second fastest time ever recorded by a British under-20 athlete, after Linsey MacDonald's 51.16 s from 1980. She later also won bronze in the 4 × 400 m relay race at the event.[3][4]

Competing at the British Athletics Championships in July 2023, in Manchester, England, she reached the final of the women's 400 m and finished in 3rd place.[5] She was selected as part of the Great Britain team for the 2023 European Athletics U23 Championships held from in July 2023 in Espoo, Finland.[6] Yemi Mary John won a gold medal in the 400 m at the event, with compatriot Keely Hodgkinson in third.[7]

She was chosen to represent Great Britain at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest in August 2023.[8] Running the anchor leg in the mixed 4 × 400-metre relay, she took advantage of a late, dramatic fall by Femke Bol of the Netherlands to win world silver, her first senior representative medal.[9] A week later, she ran in the heats of the women's 4 × 400 metres relay, winning a bronze medal.

After winning the 400 metres bronze medal at the 2024 British Athletics Championships, John was subsequently named in the Great Britain team for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Again running the heats only, she won an Olympic bronze medal as part of the successful Great Britain women's 4 × 400 metres relay squad.[10]

She lowered her personal best to 50.50 seconds winning the silver medal in the 400 metres for the British team for the 2025 European Athletics U23 Championships in Bergen.[11] Later in the championships, she ran as part of the gold medal-winning British 4 × 400 metres relay team.[12]

On 2 August, she won her heat to qualify for the final of the 400 metres at the 2025 UK Athletics Championships in Birmingham.[13] She was selected as part of the British team for the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, Japan.[14] She ran in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay, being eliminated in the heats.[15]

On 8 February 2026, John ran an indoor personal best for the 400 metres of 51.55 seconds in Metz, France.[16] John won the 400 metres at the 2026 British Indoor Athletics Championships in Birmingham on 15 February 2026, finishing ahead of Louisa Stoney and 2025 World Indoor Champion Amber Anning.[17][18][19] Competing in the individual 400 metres at the 2026 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Poland, she ran 52.28 seconds without advancing from her heat.[20]

John was named in the British squad for the 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2026 World Athletics Relays in Gaborone, Botswana.[21] On the opening day of the competition, she anchored the British mixed 4 × 400 m team and ran a split time of 49.15 seconds as they qualified for the final with the fastest overall time of 3:09.69.[22] The following day, she again ran the anchor leg to secure the bronze medal for the British team.[23] On 17 May 2026, John broke ground to a major personal best of 49.85 s at the Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo, becoming the seventh and youngest British woman to break the 50-second barrier for the 400 m.[24] Later that month, she competed in Poland and ran 50.36 seconds for second place in the 400 m behind home runner Natalia Bukowiecka at the Irena Szewińska Memorial.[25] On 21 June, she finished runner-up to Amber Anning in the final of the 400 metres at the 2026 UK Athletics Championships, running 50.23 seconds.[26]

John was selected to represent England at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, placing sixth in the final of the 400 metres.[27][28] She later won a silver medal in the mixed 4 × 400 m relay.[29] On 10 August, she won a silver medal competing for Great Britain at the 2026 European Athletics Championships in the mixed 4 × 400 metres relay in Birmingham. Competing individually, she placed fifth in the final of the women's 400 metres.[30][31] On the final night of the championships, she won the silver medal in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay.[32]

Personal life

Yemi has a Nigerian father (Christopher Olanrewaju John) and an Italian mother (Gabriella Faciotti) who lives in London.[33] She was set to join the University of Michigan as a freshman in 2023,[34] but signed for the University of Southern California.[35]

References

  1. ↑ "European U/20 Silver for Yemi Mary John". wgel.org.
  2. ↑ "World Indoor Athletics Championships: British pair Lorraine Ugen and Marc Scott win bronze". Sky Sports.
  3. ↑ "Yemi Mary John Crowned Women's 400m World U20 Champion". British Athletics.
  4. ↑ "Two British medals as USA top medal table on final day in Cali". British Athletics. 7 August 2022.
  5. ↑ "400 m-Women Final Finished 09/07/2023". ukacm2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  6. ↑ "Keely Hodgkinson and Jeremiah Azu to Captain GB & NI at European U23 Championships". British Athletics. 13 July 2023.
  7. ↑ Goss, Symone (14 July 2023). "Yemi Mary John and Havard Bentdal Ingvaldsen win gold; bronze for Keely Hodgkinson in Espoo". World-Track. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  8. ↑ "GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND SQUAD SELECTED FOR THE 2023 WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPS". Britishathletics.org.uk. 28 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  9. ↑ "'It sucks big time' – drama as star duo suffer falls". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "Kerr & Johnson-Thompson head GB Olympics athletics squad". BBC Sport. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  11. ↑ Mills, Steven (19 July 2025). "Championship record! Jaeger blazes to European U23 400m gold in 49.74". European Athletics. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  12. ↑ Broadbent, Chris (20 July 2025). "Great Britain and Spain win thrilling 4x400m finals in European U23 records". European Athletics. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  13. ↑ "UK Championship". World Athletics. 2 August 2025. Retrieved 2 August 2025.
  14. ↑ Henderson, Jason (26 August 2025). "BRITISH TEAM NAMED FOR WORLD CHAMPS IN TOKYO". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  15. ↑ "World Athletics Championships, Tokyo 2025". World Athletics. 20 September 2025. Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  16. ↑ "Meeting Metz Moselle Athlélor Crédit Mutuel". World Athletics. 8 February 2026. Retrieved 9 February 2026.
  17. ↑ Nelson, Craig (15 February 2026). "Renee adds to Regis legacy with first UK title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
  18. ↑ "Novuna UK Athletics Indoor Championships". World Athletics. 14 February 2026. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  19. ↑ "NATIONAL RECORDS AND STANDOUT PERFORMANCES LIGHT UP NOVUNA UK ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS". British Athletics. 14 February 2026. Retrieved 14 February 2026.
  20. ↑ "SMOOTH START TO WORLD INDOORS CAMPAIGN FOR KEELY HODGKINSON". Athletics Weekly. 20 March 2026. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
  21. ↑ "ZHARNEL HUGHES, CHARLIE DOBSON, DESIREE HENRY AMONG GB RELAY TEAM FOR BOTSWANA". Athletics Weekly. 4 March 2026. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
  22. ↑ "BRITISH SUCCESS ON DAY ONE AT THE WORLD ATHLETICS RELAYS IN BOTSWANA". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 2 May 2026.
  23. ↑ "USA smash competition record in mixed 4x400m in Gaborone". World Athletics. 3 May 2026. Retrieved 3 May 2026.
  24. ↑ "Lyles helps to light up Tokyo with 100m win at Seiko Golden Grand Prix". World Athletics. 17 May 2026. Retrieved 17 May 2026.
  25. ↑ "Britt and Kozák clinch hurdles wins as records fall in Bydgoszcz". World Athletics. 29 May 2026. Retrieved 29 May 2026.
  26. ↑ "ANNING AND HUDSON-SMITH IMPRESS AFTER HODGKINSON PULLS OUT". Athletics Weekly. 21 June 2026. Retrieved 21 June 2026.
  27. ↑ "On Your Marks: Team England announce athletics squad for Glasgow 2026". England Athletics. 26 June 2026. Retrieved 29 June 2026.
  28. ↑ Crumley, Euan. "MATT DENNY'S GOLDEN THROW PUTS HIM IN ELITE COMMONWEALTH COMPANY". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
  29. ↑ "XXIII Commonwealth Games". World Athletics. 1 August 2026. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  30. ↑ "GB's Hunt wins European 100m gold". BBC Sport. 10 August 2026. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  31. ↑ "HENRIETTE JÆGER DOMINATES EUROPEAN 400M AFTER ANNING'S LATE WITHDRAWAL". Athletics Weekly. Retrieved 15 August 2026.
  32. ↑ Poole, Harry (16 August 2026). "History for Hunt and Asher-Smith in golden finish for GB". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 August 2026.
  33. ↑ "Yemi Mary John, a little bit of Valenza in world gold". Ilpiccolo.net. 9 August 2022.
  34. ↑ "John Wins World Athletics U20 Gold, Bronze". mgoblue.com.
  35. ↑ "Yemi Mary John's golden gamble pays off in landmark season". Eurosport UK. 12 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
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