200m and 400m · 1990s

Michael Johnson

Rehearsed races in fine detail long before running them, down to the splits.

43.18

400m world record, stood 17 years

Atlanta

The 200m and 400m double at the 1996 Games, which nobody had done. His 200m there, 19.32, was so far ahead of the event that it took twelve years to beat.

The record that stayed

43.18 for 400m, set in Seville in 1999, stood for seventeen years until Wayde van Niekerk. In sprinting, where the margins are thin and the field is deep, that is a long time.

How he prepared

He has described rehearsing races in detail long before running them: the splits, the feel of each phase, what each part of the race was supposed to cost. Not a highlight reel. A plan run in real time in his head.

Why he is in a distance course

The distance is not yours and the method is. Run it in your head first, in real time, with the hard part left in. The event changes what you rehearse and not whether rehearsal works.

What to steal

Real time, in your own eyes, the hard part included. No fast-forwarding to the finish.

Where they come up

Checkpoint 05See the RaceThe 200m and 400m double in Atlanta in 1996, and a 400m world record that stood for 17 years. He has described rehearsing races in fine detail long before running them, down to the splits and the feel of each phase. The distance is not yours, but the method is: run it in your head first, in real time, with the hard part included.

All 26 case studies. Profiles are factual and drawn from the public record. Where a performance carries an asterisk, this app says so rather than leaving it out.