Michael Johnson (athlete)

Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson at London's Olympic Stadium in 2010
Personal information
Nationality	American
Born	(1967-09-13) September 13, 1967 (age 49) Dallas, Texas, United States
Residence	San Rafael, California, U.S.
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	175 lb (79 kg)
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	Sprints
College team	Baylor Bears
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 m: 10.09 (Knoxville 1994) 200 m: 19.32 ( he ran 50m to 150m in just 8.72 seconds) (Atlanta 1996) 300 m: 30.85 WB (Pretoria 2000) 400 m: 43.18 (Sevilla 1999)
Medal record Men's athletics Representing the  United States International athletics competitions Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 4 0 0 World Championships 8 0 0 Total 12 0 0 Olympic Games 1992 Barcelona 4×400 m relay 1996 Atlanta 200 m 1996 Atlanta 400 m 2000 Sydney 400 m 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

Michael Duane Johnson (born September 13, 1967) is a retired American sprinter. He won four Olympic gold medals and eight World Championships gold medals. He formerly 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 held the world's best time at the 300 m. Johnson is generally considered one of the greatest and most consistent sprinters in the history of track and field.

He is the only male athlete in history to win both the 200 metres and 400 metres 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. Aside from his Olympic success Johnson accumulated eight gold medals at World Championships, and is thus tied with Carl Lewis for the second most gold medals won by a runner (second only to Usain Bolt).

Johnson's stiff upright running position and very short steps defied the conventional wisdom that a high knee lift was essential for maximum speed. As of 2012, Johnson holds 13 of the top 100 times for the 200 metres and 27 of the top 100 times for the 400 metres. Of those, he holds 14 of the top 25 times for the 400 metres. He broke 44 seconds for the 400 metres twenty-two times, more than twice as many times as any other athlete.

Johnson was born and raised in Dallas, Texas as the youngest of five children; his parents were a truck driver and a schoolteacher. He began running competitively at age 10, and attended Skyline High School and Baylor University. At Baylor, Johnson was coached by Clyde Hart, and won several NCAA titles in both indoor and outdoor sprints and relays. Among his early collegiate feats, Johnson broke the school record for the 200 m in his very first race with a time of 20.41, and in 4 × 400 m relays he clocked a leg at 43.5.