Michael Johnson

Michael Duane Johnson (born September 13, 1967) is a retired American sprinter who holds world records in the 200 meters, 400 meters and 4 x 400 m relay. He also has run the fastest 300 meters of all time, an event not recognized by the IAAF. He won five Olympic gold medals and was crowned world champion nine times. He is the only male sprint athlete in history to win both the 200 meters and 400 meters events at the same Olympics, accomplishing the feat at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and the only man to successfully defend his title in the 400 meters at a Summer Olympics competition.Michael Johnson was born in Dallas, Texas and attended Skyline High School.
A 1990 graduate of Baylor University, where he was coached by Clyde Hart, Johnson won a number of medals at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships during his collegiate career. Johnson's entrance at the world stage came in 1991 when he won the World Championship 200 meters title in Tokyo.
A month before the 1992 Summer Olympics Johnson contracted food poisoning, which resulted in him consequently failing to reach the 200m final, not before successfully qualifying in the Quarterfinal Heat 1 with second place (First place: Marcus Adam, GBR, 20.43; Third place: Neil de Silva, TRI,20.66). Nevertheless, he was able to race as a member of the 4 x 400 m relay team, which won a gold medal and set a new world record time of 2:55.74.In 1997 Johnson began performing television promotions in which he billed himself as "the world's fastest man" as a result of his 200 meters world record, despite the fact that the 100 meters world record holder, at the time Canadian Donovan Bailey, was typically given that unofficial title. (Officially, in one of Johnsons 200m runs the previous year, he was speed tested and proven to be the fastest man to have ever lived, clocking in excess of 43 km/h). In a publicity stunt during June of 1997, he raced against Bailey in a 150 meters race at the Rogers Centre (then SkyDome) in Toronto. The 150 meters consisted of 75 meters of curving track and 75 meters of straight away, a configuration that was unique to this unsanctioned event. The race was billed as a competition for the title of "World's Fastest Man", but failed to live up to expectations when Johnson pulled out with an injured quadricep, while Bailey led him at the half-way mark. Bailey easily won the race (and the $1.5 million prize). That same year, Johnson won his third 400 meters World Champion title.
In 1999 he was plagued by injury, and his following season was troubled with two injury scares that limited him to just four 400 meters races before the World Championships in Seville. Were it not for the IAAF's policy of allowing defending champions automatic entry, he would not have raced in Seville, since he failed to compete in the USA trials due to his injury. He recovered and won his fourth 400 meters World Champion title with a new world record time of 43.18 seconds. He later ran the last leg of the 4 x 400 m relay, adding a ninth World Championship gold medal to his collection.