Michael Johnson: biography and achievements of the great athlete

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

If this athlete was chosen by running coaches, he would not have passed a single selection. Although in terms of speed of movement, he was much faster than his peers and not only. Only Usain Bolt (Jamaica) managed to beat his world achievement in the 200 meters only in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics. And his gold 400-meter race held until 2016, while in Rio de Janeiro, an athlete from South Africa, Weide van Niekerk, improved this achievement by 15 hundredths of a second.

So, who are we talking about? This is the well-known Michael Johnson, an athlete from America. His running style still surprises analysts (the body is tilted back while running and the steps are not very long), many still do not understand how it was possible to run with such a style, not to mention the establishment of world achievements. But still, the fact remains, despite the repeated censure of the athlete's technique.

Biography Facts

Michael Johnson was born on September 13, 1967 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He was the youngest of five children in the family. His father was a simple truck driver, and his mother was a teacher inlocal school. As a child, Michael Johnson wore large black-rimmed glasses, attended extracurricular classes for gifted children, and dreamed of becoming an architect. He was teased as a "nerd" and humiliated for avoiding team sports. But in running disciplines for short and medium distances, he was not equal not only among peers, but also among older runners.

First steps into big sport

After winning another 200m at the regional competitions, Michael caught the eye of the legendary coach Clyde Hart, who appreciated his intelligence, character and hard work. So began serious training and training at a high school in Baylor. In 1986, Michael Johnson set a national high school record of 20.41 seconds in the 200 meters. This gave him the right to compete at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, but due to injury, he had to miss this grand event.

Sports achievements

In 1990, Michael Johnson graduated with honors from Baylor University and won the 200m (20.54 seconds) at the Goodwill Games in Seattle (USA). The following year, he won his first World Championships in Athletics over the same distance of 200 meters (20.01 seconds) in Tokyo, Japan. And then came the second Olympics in Michael's career - 1992, Barcelona (Spain). But even here it was not without incident. Having received food poisoning, Michael Johnson was unable to complete the competition in his signature 200-meter race at that time. But having managed to recover and gain strength, Michael nevertheless tookOlympic gold in the 4x400m relay.

In 1993, after winning the 400-meter distance, at the national championship in Eugene, Michael went to the next world championship in Stuttgart (Germany). There he again received gold in the 400-meter race (43.65 seconds) and in the four-by-four hundred meters relay. Michael Johnson and his team set a world record of 2 minutes 54.29 seconds. Moreover, the athlete on his winning lap in this relay showed the best result in the history of running one lap around the stadium - 42.94 seconds! No one in history has been able to do this. In 1994, he won all his starts in the 400m. He even set his own personal record for 100 meters - 10.09 seconds. After winning the Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg in the 200m and 4x400m relay, he was awarded the Jesse Owens Award (twice in his career).

The 1995 season was full of new achievements. Having won all the medals at 200, 400, 4x400 meters at the national championships in Sacramento, Michael Johnson, having repeated the same thing at the World Championships in Gothenburg (Sweden), was already approaching world records at these distances. At the 200m, Michael's speed was a little lacking, he ran in 19.79 seconds (the world achievement - 19.72 seconds - at that time was set by the Italian Pietro Mennea in Mexico City in 1979). There was also a little time left before the 400-meter record - only 1 tenth of a second. Michael Johnson, a sprinter with unusual technique, ran them in 43.39 seconds (the world record for this distance was held by fellow countryman from the USA, Butch Reynolds, - 43.29 seconds). And here is the legendary Olympic Games 1996years at home - in Atlanta, USA.

The IAAF petition was made to the Olympic Committee to specially make races under Michael Johnson so that he could recover his strength between distances of 200 and 400 meters. The organizers agreed to these conditions, and for good reason. Michael Johnson, an international runner, won both of these distances, and in the 200m he set a world record (for the second time in a year) - 19.32 seconds. And in 1999 in Seville (Spain) at the World Championships, Michael finally surpassed the 400-meter record - 43.18 seconds. At this distance, Michael scored more than 50 victories in a row! Also in 2000 in Sydney, he took two golds - in the 400 and in the 4x400 relay, and ended his sports megacareer.

The life of a legendary athlete today

Now Michael Johnson lives in California with his wife and two children. Commentary on athletics competitions on television. He is a curator of young athletes and the owner of his company in the field of sports management. In the history of sports, his achievements will be remembered for a long time by both athletes and numerous fans.