Johnson, Michael Duane

▪ 1996

      In 1995 U.S. track star Michael Johnson gave further proof that he was the finest sprinter in the world. He did not lose a single race at the distances of 400 and 200 m all year and was clocked under 44 seconds in the 400 m four times and under 20 seconds in the 200 m six times—an unprecedented feat. Indeed, he had not lost a 400-m race outdoors in more than 50 contests since 1988, and his second-place finishes in the 200 m were scarce. Johnson began his undefeated season by breaking the indoor world record at 400 m twice, in February (44.97) and then again in March (44.63). At the outdoor national championships in June, Johnson could not choose between the 200 m and the 400 m, so he ran them both. He repeated this grueling double in August at the world championships, where he matched a personal best time in the 200 m (19.79) and set a personal record in the 400 m (43.39), narrowly missing both world records. He capped his achievements by running the anchor leg for the first-place U.S. 4 ×400-m relay team.

      The 200-m/400-m double was rare among world-class sprinters, who traditionally chose to double at 100-m/200-m distances. Johnson's double victory in the long sprints at the world championships—which never before had been accomplished in a major nonboycotted meet—was a feat he hoped to repeat at the 1996 Olympic Games, but at year's end it was still uncertain if the conflicting race schedules would be changed to accommodate him. As the world's top-rated runner of the decade at 200 m and 400 m, he was named the American Athlete of the Year by Track and Field News four times (1990, 1993-95).

      Johnson, who was born Sept. 13, 1967, in Dallas, Texas, first entered track competition when he was 11 years old. He took second place in the 200 m at the 1986 high-school state championships but did not run the 400 m until his freshman year at Baylor University, Waco, Texas. In 1989 he set an indoor U.S. record at 200 m (20.59) with a victory in the national collegiate championships, a title he successfully defended both indoors and outdoors in 1990. In 1991 he lowered the 200-m indoor record (20.55) and raced undefeated at both 200 m and 400 m outdoors, logging a 200-m victory at the world championships. He qualified for the 1992 Olympic Games in the 200 m but was slowed by illness during the competition, although he did recover to win a gold medal as part of the U.S. 4 ×400-m relay team, which set a world record (2:55.74). In 1993 the U.S. relay team lowered the world mark again (2:54.29), and Johnson's anchor leg of 42.94 seconds became the fastest relay split ever. (TOM MICHAEL)

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