Michael Johnson (sprinter)

Michael Johnson

Johnson in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Michael Duane Johnson
Nationality	American
Born	(1967-09-13) September 13, 1967 (age 56) Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)[1]
Weight	175 lb (79 kg)[1]
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event	Sprints
College team	Baylor
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	100 m: 10.09 (Knoxville 1994) 200 m: 19.32 (Atlanta 1996) 300 m: 30.85 NB[a] (Pretoria 2000) 400 m: 43.18 AR NR (Sevilla 1999)
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  United States International athletics competitions Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 4 0 0 World Championships 8 0 0 Goodwill Games 4 0 0 Total 16 0 0 Olympic Games 1992 Barcelona 4 × 400 m relay 1996 Atlanta 200 m 1996 Atlanta 400 m 2000 Sydney 400 m Disqualified 2000 Sydney 4 × 400 m relay World Championships 1991 Tokyo 200 m 1993 Stuttgart 400 m 1993 Stuttgart 4 × 400 m relay 1995 Göteborg 200 m 1995 Göteborg 400 m 1995 Göteborg 4 × 400 m relay 1997 Athens 400 m 1999 Seville 400 m Goodwill Games 1990 Seattle 200 m 1994 Saint Petersburg 200 m 1994 Saint Petersburg 4×400 m relay 1998 New York 400 m

Michael Duane Johnson (born September 13, 1967) is an American retired sprinter who won four Olympic gold medals and eight World Championships gold medals in the span of his career.^[2] He held the world and Olympic records in the 200 m and 400 m, as well as the world record in the indoor 400 m. He also once held the world's best time in the 300 m. Johnson is generally considered one of the greatest and most consistent sprinters in the history of track and field.^[3][4]

Johnson is the only male athlete to win both the 200 meters and 400 meters events at the same Olympics, a feat he accomplished at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. Johnson is also the only man to successfully defend his Olympic title in the 400 m, having done so at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Aside from his Olympic success, Johnson accumulated eight gold medals at the World Championships and is tied with Carl Lewis for the fourth most gold medals won by a runner.^[5][6]

Johnson's distinctive stiff upright running position and very short steps defied the conventional wisdom that a high knee lift was necessary for maximum speed. As of 2012, Johnson held 13 of the top 100 times for the 200 meters (having broken 20 seconds 23 times) and 27 of the top 100 times for the 400 meters. Of those, he holds 14 of the top 25 times for the 400 meters. He broke 44 seconds for the 400 meters 22 times, more than twice as many times as any other athlete.

Johnson held the US national records for the 200, 300, and 400 meters. The 4 × 400 meters relay world record was anchored by Johnson.

Since 2001, he has worked for the BBC, appearing as a pundit at multiple events. He has been a part of the BBC's Olympics athletics coverage since Athens 2004.^{[7][unreliable source?]}

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