| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||
| Born | August 4, 1967 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
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| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 150 lb (68 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Running | ||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 100 metres, 200 metres | ||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Michael Lawrence Marsh (born August 4, 1967) is a former American sprinter, the 1992 Olympic champion in the 200 m.
Marsh was born in Los Angeles, and attended high school at Hawthorne High School in Hawthorne, California where he was overshadowed by Henry Thomas who he joined on numerous championship relays. When Thomas was sidelined with an appendix attack, requiring surgery just before the qualification cycle, Marsh won the 1985 CIF California State Meet in the 200 metres.[1] He continued running with Thomas at UCLA, his best achievement was a 3rd place at the NCAA championships.
Although Marsh could compete in the national sprint top, he did not manage to qualify for an international event until 1991, when he qualified for the American relay team for the 1991 World Championships. Marsh ran in the heats, but not in the final, which was won by the Americans. The next year, at the US Olympic Trials for the Barcelona Olympics, Marsh, who had posted a time of 9.93s into a wind of 0.6 m/s at the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut earlier that season, which using a widely accepted wind/altitude correction calculator adjusted to the fastest ever intrinsic 100m time recorded at that time in history, disappointingly finished fourth in the 100 meters. Not enough for individual qualification, but sufficient to make the relay team. In the 200 m, he placed second to Michael Johnson, and qualified for the Olympics.
In Barcelona, Marsh surprised all observers in his semi-final. He cruised through the race, simply securing qualification for the final. His final time, however, was 19.73, just one hundredth of a second slower than the standing world record (and it was the American Record. This run was remarkable for the fact that he eased off 10m from the line, stating in later interviews that he hadn't realised how fast he was running & wanted to save some energy for the final, which was to be held only a few hours later. See the race. Unofficial split analysis from video of that run indicates he would have run a time of about 19.65s if he hadn't eased off, significantly faster than the world record at the time, Pietro Mennea's altitude-assisted 19.72s. An improvement of this record was anticipated for the final, but Marsh could not live up to those expectations. He did win the race however, beating early leader Frankie Fredericks of Namibia.[2] He did set a world record in the final of the 4 x 100 m, as the American team completed the race in 37.40.
As the reigning Olympic champion, he surprisingly did not medal in the 200 m at the 1993 World Championships, placing fourth. His 1994 season went without a win, but he did lead off the Santa Monica Track Club's 4x200 relay at the Mt. SAC Relays when the team of Marsh, Leroy Burrell, Floyd Heard and Carl Lewis set the still standing world record in the event. He returned strongly in 1995. He won the national championships in the 100 m, and represented his country in that event at the World Championships. There, he disappointed, finishing only 5th in the final. The disappointment was complete when the relay team failed to finish the heats after a bad exchange.
In 1996, Marsh managed to qualify for all three sprint events at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, and he reached the final of all three. In the 100 m, he placed 5th and finished last while attempt to defend his 200 m title (which was taken by Johnson in a new world record time). The American relay team, with Marsh as the third runner, was heavily favoured to take the 4 x 100 m title, but they were surprised by the Canadian team in the final, and had to settle for silver.
Marsh retired from international athletics after the 1997 season, in which he again qualified for the 100 m final at the World Championships, where he placed last.
| Sporting positions | ||
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| Preceded by Michael Johnson |
Men's 200m Best Year Performance 1992 |
Succeeded by Frankie Fredericks |
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