Who is Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson became the first man to be ranked number one in the world at both 200m and 400m, he began dominating both events in 1990. Yet it was not until 1996 that he won an individual medal at the Olympics.

Johnson was the overwhelming favourite to win the 200m at the 1992 Olympics, but he contracted food poisoning twelve days before the Opening Ceremony. He did not recover quickly and was eliminated in the semifinals. He did win a gold medal as a member of the U.S. 4x400m relay team.

By the time of the 1996 Olympics, Johnson had won 54 straight finals at 400m and had not been beaten at that distance in seven years. He had no trouble in the Olympic final, winning by ten metres, the largest margin of victory in the event in 100 years.

Three nights later, Johnson raced in the 200m final. At the U.S. Olympic trials, he had run a 19.66 to break the 17-year-old world record. In Atlanta, he ran a phenomenal 19.32 to defeat Frankie Fredericks of Namibia by four metres. In 1999, Johnson broke the 11-year-old 400m world record with a time of 43.18 seconds.

He went to the Sydney Olympics in 2000 having won the 400m at the last four world championships. He won again in the Olympic final to become the first man to win the 400m twice. Finally, he anchored the U.S. 4x400m relay team to victory to bring his career gold medal total to five.

In 1997 Johnson began appearing in television advertisements in which he was billed as "the world's fastest man" as a result of his 200m world record, despite the fact that the 100 metres world record holder, at the time Canadian Donovan Bailey, was typically given that unofficial title.

In a publicity stunt in June 1997, he raced against Bailey in a 150-metre (164 yd) race at the Rogers Centre (then SkyDome) in Toronto. The event was unsanctioned, and its unique course consisted of 75 metres of curving track and 75 metres of straight track. The race was billed as a competition for the title of "World's Fastest Man". It failed to live up to expectations when Johnson pulled up with an injured quadricep while Bailey had the lead at the halfway mark. Bailey easily won the race and the $1.5 million prize that came with the victory. That same year, Johnson won his third 400m world title in Athens.

At the 1998 Goodwill Games in New York, Johnson anchored the U.S. 4 x 400m relay team with Jerome Young, Antonio Pettigrew, and Tyree Washington to a win and set the current world record of 2:54.20. Pettigrew has since admitted doping from 1997. Young was caught doping in 1999.

FROM BEIJING - 20 August 2008

By Michael Johnson
Former 200m world record holder

Usain Bolt's 200m victory in a new world record time of 19.30 seconds was simply incredible. This guy is Superman II.

When I saw the start he made to the race, I just thought 'wow'. It was a much better start than the one he made in winning the 100m - in another new world record time.

Guys at 6ft 5ins tall should not be able to start like that. Bolt had the slowest start in the field in the 100m but here it was better than anyone else's and there were some good starters out there.

His drive phase, his transition, his bend, his home straight - it was all simply incredible. We saw Bolt giving it every single ounce of energy, even a lean at the tape.

Bolt was immediately up on Zimbabwe's Brian Dzingai, who is a very good 200m runner, and he started absolutely burning up the turn.

You've got to get out and run that in 10.01 secs or so, and I can imagine he ran about 10.00 around the curb, which is amazing.

After making up the stagger on all of the people outside him, Usain then opened a five to six metre gap on them.

The long stride means he ate up so much more track than everybody else did with each step and, for once, he ran through the finish line.

This is Bolt's favourite event and he wanted that record; he went for it, he came here focused on it. He knew that most likely he'd win gold but gave it every single thing he had.

My concern, and the reason I thought he might not get the world record here, was that he wouldn't have been working on his speed endurance, the ability to hold that speed for the entire race.

But he showed that he actually has been working on that and was able to bring it home in 19.30secs; an incredible time, an incredible performance.

This performance was much better than the 100m because we saw Bolt giving it every single ounce of energy, even a lean at the tape.

And that lean was not based on trying to beat anyone else because the other guys weren't anywhere close to him.

He was just trying to hold that speed for as long as he could and grab that record, which he's done.

It's about the accomplishment, that's what he's going to take from this. He worked so hard to break that world record.

I don't see any reason why he couldn't now move up to the 400m but I'm not sure if he'll be able to break the world record in that.

In my opinion he'll now switch his focus back to the 100m, knowing there's a little more he can take off the 9.69sec. He can start better and go down into the low 9.60s.

But for now all I can say is congratulations, Usain Bolt.

Michael Johnson was talking on BBC Television