Michael Johnson knew he would break his world indoor record in the men's 400-meter dash at Saturday's USA-Mobil Indoor Championships - and he was absolutely right, clocking a sensational 44.63 seconds.
Lance Deal had a feeling he would break his world indoor best in the 35-pound weight throw and he also was correct - not once, not twice, but three times, raising the mark by nearly three feet to 84 feet, 101/4 inches.At the same time, two American records were broken. Sheila Hudson-Strudwick shattered her U.S. indoor record in the triple jump for the second time in a week, leaping 46-81/4, and Carlette Guidry-White took the women's 200-meter dash record from an absent Gwen Torrence, clocking 22.73.
Johnson's time clipped a remarkable .34 seconds off the previous record of 44.97 he set last month at Reno, Nev.
"I didn't feel like I could do it on the (board) track at Reno," Johnson, 27, said. "I predicted that I could do it here (on a Mondo track). I just put together the right race."
The victory was Johnson's 40th in a row, indoors and outdoors, in the 400. He has not lost at that distance since 1990.
Runner-up Derek Mills was duly impressed by Johnson's awesome performance.
"Unbelievable!" he said. "It was the kind of race you like to sit and watch. Unfortunately, I was in it, behind him."
The 33-year-old Deal, also the American record-holder in the outdoor hammer throw, first threw the weight 81 feet, 111/2 inches, three inches farther the previous best of 81-81/2 he had set last month. He then improved the mark by more than a foot, throwing 82-113/4, before completing his record-shattering series.
"We get to throw the outdoor weight this year," the anxious Deal had said Friday. "It will fly farther."
It certainly did. The outdoor brass weight is one of three varieties of the implement which the throwers use.
Hudson-Strudwick improved her American indoor record of 46-6, set last week at Flagstaff, Ariz.
It was the third time in her career she had gone 46-8 1-4, including twice outdoors, and that also is the best ever by an American.
Hudson-Strudwick's record jump came on her final attempt and clinched her third straight national indoor title.
Lynda Tolbert-Goode spoiled Jackie Joyner-Kersee's bid for a hurdles-long jump double, winning the 60-meter hurdles at 7.93. Joyner-Kersee, who slammed into the final hurdle in last year's final, stayed erect this time, finishing second at 7.97.
Later, she won the long jump at 22-03/4.
Allen Johnson, the 1995 world leader in the men's 60-meter hurdles, won with a meet-record time of 7.42, as two-time Olympic gold medalist Roger Kingdom finished fifth at 7.65 and six-time national champion Greg Foster was seventh at 7.76.
Kentucky junior Tim Harden scored a surprising victory in the men's 60 meters, clocking 6.54, the fastest by an American this year and tying the meet record.