When Michael Johnson stepped onto the starting block in the men's 400m final at the IAAF World Championships in Seville 25 years ago, there was more than just the usual gold glow surrounding him.
The gold-plated running spikes that the Dallas native wore when he won the 200m and 400m double at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics have been modified to incorporate dark blue parachute nylon.
Judging by his form in the 1999 World Championship semifinal, the Texas superman was ready to fly around the track at the Estadio Olimpico. After three years of battling injuries and three weeks shy of his 32nd birthday, Johnson slowed to a relatively relaxed pace in the final 100 meters, but still managed a time of 43.95 seconds.
At last, the world single-lap record of 43.29 seconds, set by compatriot Harry “Batch” Reynolds in Zurich in 1988, seemed within reach of the American golden boy.
“I think I can do it,” Johnson confessed after the semifinals, “I've never been that fast or that far. I know I'm fit enough to go faster than 43.29 seconds. I just need to be careful not to make any big mistakes.”
Johnson's personal best is 43.39 seconds, the time he won in the 400 metres at the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg for the second time.
With two world championship gold medals in the 200m and the world record, having won it in a blistering 19.32 seconds in the Atlanta final, the astute marketing graduate could already claim to be the greatest long-distance sprinter of all time.
But Johnson wanted to seal his historic track and field achievement with a world record in the 400 metres.
“I was actually healthy.”
He and coach Clyde Hart, who had guided him since his days at Baylor University in Waco, knew a final in Seville would be the ideal setting.
“From the beginning of the 1999 season, our focus was on going into the final in a position to break the world record,” Johnson recalled during the IAAF World Championships' One Moment in Time series.
“I was actually healthy at this point, despite dealing with an injury that had plagued me since 1996, and 1999 was supposed to be the year I attempted the 400m world record.
“I had planned to retire after the 2000 Sydney Olympics, but I didn't want to go into my final season with the pressure of having to win a gold medal and break a world record.”
“The key is to get to race pace in the 60m.”
Johnson wasn't too keen on having to run four rounds of 400 meters with a rest day between the semifinals and finals, but the program gave him the opportunity to refine his plan of attack on Reynolds' record.
Michael Johnson takes the lead in the 400 metres at the 1999 World Championships in Seville (© Getty Images)
“I knew from the analysis I'd done over the years, ever since I'd run close to the world record time, that I had to figure out where to make up that extra time,” Johnson said.
“The world record is 43.29 seconds. My personal best is 43.39 seconds. I have to shave off a tenth of a second somewhere.”
“I discovered that early on in the race. I knew the key to breaking the world record was to get to 60 metres as quickly as possible – to be up to race pace by 60 metres.”
By the quarterfinals, Johnson was in good form, his characteristic upright gait smooth as it had been in Atlanta. “The way I raced felt a lot easier and more natural,” he said.
“In the semifinals, I knew if I slowed down and ran 43.95 seconds I could break the world record. I was running world record pace. I knew I was in good shape.”
Johnson lined up in lane five at the Estadio Olimpico on the night of Aug. 26. Just inside him was Alejandro Cardenas, known for his quick starts.
The headband-wearing Mexican made up for some of his initial wobbles, but Johnson got into top gear quicker than usual.
He completed the 100 metres in 11.10 seconds, the 200 metres in 21.22 seconds, the 300 metres in 31.66 seconds and the final 100 metres in 11.52 seconds, before maintaining his form down the home straight in style.
Johnson's winning time was 43.18 seconds, 0.11 seconds faster than the world record.
“That's all done.”
“At least he did it,” the late track and field great Peter Matthews declared, commentating on the international television broadcast. “We've been waiting for years for this guy to run a time like this.
Seville crowd celebrates Michael Johnson (© Allsport)
“Here in Seville he has won his fourth world 400m title, breaking the world record he set 11 years ago, and now his name is in the history books.”
That was certainly true.
Johnson won eight world championship gold medals, four Olympic gold medals and finished his career as the first athlete since Tommie Smith to hold the world records in the 200 and 400 metres.
“I was so happy and relieved when I crossed the line,” the Texan with the talents of King Midas said of that night in Seville a quarter of a century ago.
“My coach and I both thought we could go under 43 seconds, but in the end we were closer than we thought. We were only 0.11 seconds faster than the record.”
“But I was happy. I had always wanted to set a world record in the 400 metres. Now it's all been achieved.”
Simon Turnbull, World Athletics Heritage
