Phyllis JOHNSON

Phyllis Squire was eighteen years of age when she married James Johnson, a colliery owner ten years her elder, in 1904. Together they formed a partnership that saw them win two world titles, a silver (1908) and a bronze (1910) world championship medal and the 1908 Olympic silver medal until his ill health caused the end of their skating relationship. She then skated with a new partner, Basil Williams, at the Antwerp Olympics and became the first skater to win a medal with two different partners when they clinched the bronze medal. Johnson also competed as a singles skater at Antwerp and narrowly missed a medal as she finished in fourth place. She had previously placed second in the ladies event at the 1913 World Championships and won bronze in both 1912 and 1914. As Phyllis Squire, she had started out in the English style of skating, winning the Challenge Shield in 1902-1904 and the English Challenge Cup in 1904. After James Johnson died she re-married and lived on into her eighties.