American sprints legends explains why the Olympic and world records go hand in hand and what athletes need to do to achieve both.
‘You’re either on top or you’re not’ – When Michael Johnson revealed why the Olympic Games is a forum for athletes to reach the highest pinnacles
Michael Johnson may be retired more than two decades but his prediction regarding the Olympic and world records will forever be legendary.
After hanging up his spikes in 2001, the American sprinter who is a four-time Olympic champion, still believes the Olympic Games is the avenue where athletes need to show their prowess and world-beating heroics.
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According to the eight-time world champion, Johnson is sure of one thing, though. The Olympic Games will always be a forum where athletes reach the very highest pinnacles. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, 20 world records were broken
“Many records get broken at the Olympic Games because of the level of motivation,” Johnson previously told Olympics.com. “When there’s a medal on the line, people are at their finest,” he added.
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Considered one of the greatest and most consistent sprinters in the history of track and field, Johnson added that breaking the Olympic record gives an athlete the advantage of lowering the world record too.
He used Usain Bolt’s example, who broke the world record before also crushing the Olympic record. “You break the Olympic record, you’ve got a good chance at the world record too. It took Usain Bolt to break the world record to break my Olympic record, because they were one and the same. And my 400m record was set at a World Championships but it took a run at the Rio 2016 Olympics to beat it.”
In the 200m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Bolt lowered Johnson’s mark of 19.32 by . 0.02 seconds and then one year later lowered his own time at the World Championships to a barely believable 19.19.
