Michael Johnson an athlete par excellence

Sampath Bandara

Michael Johnson is one of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen. He is the only man to win the 200 and 400 metres and also the first man to be ranked Number One in the world in both 200 metres and 400 metres.

Michael Johnson was born in September 13, 1967 at Dallas, Texas, United States and he started athletics in his boyhood days.

In 1991 he won his first World Championship in 200 metres in Tokyo, Japan (he clocked 20.01 seconds) beating Frankie Frederick of Nambia in 1995 in Gothemburg he won again the same event in 19.79 seconds. Michael Johnson won the 400 metres event in four World Championships (Stuttgart 1993, Gothemburg 1995, Athens 1997 and Seville 1999) he bagged a total of nine World Championship gold medals and beating Carl Lewis' record of eight in 1999.

Two golds in Atlanta

Michael Johnson's greatest achievement was clinching two gold medals in the 200 and 400 metres at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

He won the 200 metres gold in a record time of 19.32 seconds. In 1999, he broke the 11-year-old world record in 400m by clocking 43.18 seconds.

Next year at the 2000 Sydney Olympics he became the first athlete to win the 400 metres gold medal twice in the Olympic Games. Finally he anchored the US 4X400 relay team to victory. In the 1997 World Championships held in Athens, Johnson made a controversial appearance. The 30-year-old from Dallas Texas had not been selected for the USA team, after injury had forced him to withdraw from the US trails.

First 'Wild Card' winner

In Indianapolis, the strict American rules, left him out of the team. IAAF President Primo Nebiolo gave the wild card entry to Johnson for the championships to run the 400 metres event.

He won the final in a time of 44.12 seconds and clinched the World Championship 400 metres for the second time. He became the first 'wild card' winner of a world class event.

Michael Johnson bagged five Olympic gold medals. It is a magnificent accomplishment indeed. He is the current 400 metres world record holder (43.18 seconds Seville, Spain on August 26, 1999). His 200 metres record was broken by Usain Bolt at the last Olympics.

When Sugath beat Johnson...

200 and 400 metres Sri Lanka record holder Sugath Tillekeratne beat Michael Johnson in the first round race in the Atlanta Olympic Games was remarkable occasion of the Sri Lanka athletics history.

Michael Johnson is one of the finest athletes the world has even seen. In 2001, he ran his final event in a major tournament at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane, Australia.