He competed for the United States in the 1920 Summer Olympics held in Antwerp, Belgium in the long jump, where he won the silver medal.

[2] Johnson was born in Genesee County, Michigan, but moved to Spokane, Washington, as a child.

In 1915, as a Spokane high school student, he competed as an individual in the National Interscholastics, and finished second in the team competition.

[1] He did not compete in most of the 1920 college track and field season, and he had a poor performance at the Olympic tryouts.

He qualified for the final round, where he leapt 7.095 metres (23 ft 3.3 in), which earned him the silver medal.