Courtney Johnson: Mormon Athlete

Courtney Johnson is a former water polo champion. She joined the U.S. team in 1995 and competed at the 1998 World Championships in Perth, Australia, and the 2001 World Championships In Fukuoka, Japan. She won a silver medal at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Canada. She then won a silver medal in the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics —it was the first Olympic games to include women’s water polo as an official team sport. She later served as a member of the United States Olympic Committee Athletes’ Advisory Council from 2000 to 2008. She served on the United States Olympic Committee AAC Leadership Group from 2004 to 2008. She was a member of the USOC/NCAA Joint Task Force in 2004 and a member of the USOC Governance Task Force in 2010.

Johnson was born on May 7, 1974, in Salt Lake City. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, she competed on Berkeley’s first Varsity Women’s water polo team. She was named the Collegiate National Championship Most Valuable Player and honored as the MPSF Northern Division Player of the Year, Western Regional Most Valuable Player, and NCAA First Team All-American. She was the MVP for three straight years, from 1994 through 1996. She was on the coaching staff for the inaugural NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship in 1999. In 2010 she was inducted into the University of California Hall of Fame.

In 2002, Johnson passed the California State Bar exam. She had attended the Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, then graduated from the Santa Clara University School of Law.

Johnson continues to volunteer with the USOC and serves on the United States Olympic Committee Nominating and Governance Committee. She works as a Compliance Coordinator of Athletic Eligibility at Saint Mary's College of California.

Johnson is a member The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.