We are constantly told never to throw stones while living in glass houses, but Calgary’s Alexis Johnson doesn’t live in a glass house, and she’s damn good at not just throwing stones but launching them.
Last weekend, Johnson broke a Canadian stone-launching record in the women’s heavyweight for distance at the Canmore Highland Games, which ran from August 31 to September 1.
Johnson threw a 28-pound stone 44 feet and nine inches, setting the record for distance. Forty-four feet wasn’t good enough for her.
With one throw left in the chamber, Johnson broke her record with a distance of 45 feet and five inches, a whole two feet and two inches more than the previous record set by Susie Lajoie in 2022.
Our province’s talented athletes are in the habit of setting and breaking records on the same day.
Last Wednesday, St. Albert’s Reid Maxwell set a new Americas record at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, breaking the record he set earlier in the day during the qualifiers.
Johnson must have heard the news and took it personally! To put her throw into perspective, a mountain bike weighs between 25 to 33 pounds.
Throwing the equivalent weight of a mountain bike about the length of a coach bus sounds impossible, yet that’s what Johnson achieved.
Before her record-setting throw, Johnson received some encouragement from Canmore Highland Games veteran Jamie Clark.
Clark returned to the Games this year after missing last year’s event while competing at the World Heavy Events Championships.
“She was like, ‘throw 45,’ and I was like, ‘You’re crazy. You’re insane. That’s not going to happen. But then when I threw 44, which beat the record, I was like, ‘Huh, let me give her a bit more juice,’” Johnson told the Rocky Mountain Outlook.
Clark is a veteran, but Johnson is still getting her feet yet. She competed at her first Highland Games last year in Calgary, where she set another Canadian record in the women’s light hammer throw.
Johnson threw a 12-pound hammer an impossible 103 feet and nine inches, beating the previous record by 6.5 inches.
A Stone Cold Performance
According to Dave Roe, the Canmore Highland Games’ MC, Johnson’s record isn’t set in stone yet. First, he needs to get the weight measured and certified.
Johnson broke the previous distance record by over two feet. We are confident her performance is one for the record books, and her fellow competitors think so, too.
“She’s gonna have a very bright future doing this, and that’s pretty amazing. I’ve seen her set records two years in a row now, so that’s really impressive,” said Owen Ferguson, winner of the men’s category.
Like Johnson, Ferguson is a force to be reckoned with at the Games. This year, he competed in seven events, winning three and tying one against four other athletes.
“I felt really strong today. There were some events that I thought I really excelled at and others that I struggled with, but that’s kind of the nature of the game,” explained Ferguson last Wednesday.
Ferguson’s greatest accomplishment was finally setting a personal record in the open stone event, throwing a 20-pound stone 41 feet and 6.5 inches.
“You try to compare it to track and field, but it’s not the same. You’re dealing with stones; you’re dealing with rudimentary gear, so every time everybody makes a personal best, it’s a feat,” said Roe.
When Ferguson isn’t throwing heavy objects, the Calgarian works as a Chartered Professional Accountant at Finning Canada, proving that he has both brain and brawn.
Johnson is also a successful professional. She is currently interning with the Government of Alberta and working as a child and youth worker at Hull Services.
Ferguson and Johnson prove that Alberta’s athletes bring more to the table than just athletic talent. Our athletes have built a culture around sportsmanship and lifting each other up, not putting each other down.
The Canmore Highland Games celebrate this culture.
“That’s what we’re here to do, is celebrate the athletes, celebrate the events, celebrate the culture,” said Roe.
Johnson is just getting started, stating, “I know that there’s still so much room for me to grow, which is also cool. I’m intrigued to see what next year looks like with getting good distances this year.”
Having flexed her talent at the Canmore Highland Games, Johnson is hoping to test her skills at a national event next year.
