Talk:Michael Johnson (athlete)

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Contents 1 Revert 2 Too Biased 3 Reasons for reverting Gh's changes 4 400m record 5 running style 6 Max speed 7 weasel terms 8 Picture 9 Bailey Section Inappropriate 10 Video of Bailey Johnson Race on YouTube 11 Clarification of Xavier Carter's 19.63

[edit] Revert

Got rid of the 'Michael Sanchez' stuff...

[edit] Too Biased

Just browsing this and it seems far too biased. Too much praise. Granted the achievements are noteworthy, but the way its written is just lavishing it and then some. Needs to be made more neutral.

Well edit it then! --Lancevortex 10:11, 8 Mar 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Reasons for reverting Gh's changes

I didn't think that Gh's edits added to the clarity of the article, in fact rather the opposite. I have therefore reverted to the previous version. Any comments (especially from Gh) appreciated. --Lancevortex 14:48, 6 Jun 2004 (UTC)

[edit] 400m record

The article for Kerron Clement and this one are apparently conflicting; the other page says that the record belongs to Kerron Clement at 44.57 seconds, while this page says that the record belongs to Michael Johnson at 43.18 seconds. Which is correct, or what am I missing?

Clement holds the indoor record, Johnson the outdoor (and absolute) record. --Lancevortex 12:26, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)

[edit] running style

a picture (a movie would be best) of his unique running style would be great. I searched yahoo! videos for a decent video to link to but did not find any --Crucible Guardian 05:21, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I found a video on the Internet but it is above the 2MB video file size rule so the only way to include it is to add an external link. The video is from a French TV station but it shows Johnson's unique running style in slow motion as he breaks the 200m-world record. I will add the external link. --User:someone97531 14 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Max speed

Johnson's maximum speed in his 200m world record was recently changed from "37km/h" to "over 40km/h". Anyone know which is correct (with source)? --Lancevortex 09:42, 12 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] weasel terms

I think the use of Many at the beginning and in the Bailey race section should be removed.

they have now been removed. --Lancevortex 11:02, 21 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Picture

This article could really use a picture, don't you agree? BMW Z3 23:56, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

I have uploaded a picture showing Michael Johnson holding the American flag after completing the double at Atlanta in 1996. I think that it could replace the first table on the article that is repeated towards the bottom of the page. What does everyone think? --User:Someone97531 14 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Bailey Section Inappropriate

As currently written, this section suggests that the race was a non-starter, since '...Johnson pulled out a few moments into the race'. A review of the footage clearly indicates Johnson did not 'pull up lame' until the race was 2/3rds over (at about 10 s into a 15 s race), and after Bailey was looking to be a sure winner. The race showed a lot more than the article suggests. Indeed it appeared that Bailey would 'easily win the race' before Johnson pulled up lame - the article suggests Bailey easily won the race because Johnson pulled up lame. The article needs to give Bailey more credit.

I also think the Bailey-Johnson section is inappropriate for the above reasons, and others. Why is it there in the first place? If we are to fill the page with various race anecdotes, we could put the race where Johnson pulled his hamstring in a 200 m race against Maurice Greene, or various times where he had particularly great races. I personally think that a link to the Bailey-Johnson article is enough for now. At the moment, the section is sitting there, slightly out of context. A reader might ask, why is this specific race important? Surely athletes can get injured rather often? Mipchunk 19:28, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Video of Bailey Johnson Race on YouTube

Search on 'Bailey Johnson'

[edit] Clarification of Xavier Carter's 19.63

The old version said "In the 10 years since this record was set, [i.e., Johnson's 19.32] no other athlete has even approached Johnson's first world record mark of 19.66 s, until July 11, 2006, when Xavier Carter of the United States posted a 19.63 in Lausanne, leading many to believe that the current mark will endure."

Well, obviously this was written before Carter did his 19.63 and simply ammended with a reference to him, as Wallace Spearmon did 19.65 Sept 2006 and Tyson Gay twice came within several hundredths of a second of hitting 19.66 as well. Clearly, Johnson's 19.32 was not threatened, but the way the sentence was structured it seems as if Carter's time somehow reinforces the notion "that the current mark will endure." Unless someone can find a link to someone saying that these recent marks somehow make Johnson's 19.32 more likely to last many more years, I have gone ahead and rewritten the line.

To be fair, I'd say that the mark COULD be broken as Carter and Spearmon, 22 and 21 respectively both exceeded what Johnson did at age 28 - his 19.66 - and more may come from these two and Gay - 23 and 24 in 2006 when he ran 19.68 and 19.70 - and these three presumably would be eager not only to approach Johnson but to beat each other. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Canada Jack (talk

I've seen that my insert has been rephrased, with the new phrase: "No other athlete even approached Johnson's first world record mark of 19.66 until July 11, 2006, nearly ten years after his 19.32 performance, when Xavier Carter of the United States ran a 19.63 in Lausanne." However, this is not strictly true, as Frank Fredericks ran 19.68 behind Johnson's 19.32 record in 1996. We still need to say this better. Canada Jack 16:09, 6 March 2007 (UTC)