McGill University Athletics

David Moffat Johnson was born on April 30, 1902 at Lachine, Quebec. He graduated from McGill with a Bachelor of Arts in 1923 and later received an honorary doctorate of laws (LLD, 1959).

He competed in track and field at McGill from 1919 to 1922, starred in the 100, 220 and 440 yards, in addition to a number of relays. Johnson guided the team to four consecutive league championships, including an upset over Toronto at the 1920 intercollegiate track championship meet, where he won both sprints

(100 and 220) and then the quarter-mile run — as a last-minute sub — to give McGill the R. Tait McKenzie trophy.

Johnson also won gold in quarter-mile at the 1922 intercollegiate championship meet and was Canada’s top track athlete at the 1924 Paris Olympics, where he finished fourth in two events.

After graduating with an arts degree in 1923, he went on to become the first McGill athlete to earn a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University in England.