Michael Johnson earned another diamond in his final race before the Centennial Olympic Games. Next, he goes for the gold in Atlanta.
"I wanted my last race to be a good one, and I'm not really surprised with the time, because I'm in really good shape right now," the Texan said after winning the 200 meters in 19.77 seconds in the DN Galan Grand Prix track meet Monday night.It was the sixth-fastest time in history and only 11 hundredths of a second off the world record Johnson set in the U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta late last month, when he broke the oldest mark in track's record book.
It also improved Johnson's 1995 meet record (20.15) in Stockholm's Olympic Stadium, built for the 1912 Summer Games, and earned him a one-carat diamond worth $10,000. But that's peanuts compared to the financial rewards should he win an unprecedented men's 200-400 double in Atlanta.
Three days earlier on another chilly night, in Oslo, Norway, Johnson's two-year, 21-race winning streak was snapped by Frankie Fredericks of Namibia, a non-starter Monday. Fredericks edged him at the wire last Friday.
The start was the difference this time for Johnson.
"I got a good start," Johnson said. "That was the mistake I made in Oslo, and I corrected that tonight. Basically, I ran the type of race I've been running all year.
"In Oslo, I just wasn't focused on the start. I'm extremely pleased with my race tonight."
Clyde Hart, Johnson's coach for 10 years, since his days at Baylor's small track facility in Waco, agreed.
"Michael was smoking," Hart said.
Only Pietro Mennea (19.72), Mike Marsh (19.73), Carl Lewis and Joe DeLoach (both 19.75) have run faster than Johnson's time Monday. Mennea, an Italian, set his record that lasted 17 years at high altitude in Mexico City.
"It was easier tonight than in Oslo," Johnson said of his European tour. "We got the 400 out of the way in Lausanne (Switzerland) last week. Coming here, I was still in the 200 mindset."
Facing a lot tougher competition in the 200 this season doesn't really affect Johnson.
"I'm already motivated enough," said Johnson, who won both the 200 and 400 in the World Championships last year in Goteborg, Sweden. "But I enjoy the fact that last year I was basically the only guy running in 19 seconds, but this year Jeff Williams, Frankie and Ato (Boldon) have done it. When we get to the games, I think the 200 will be one of the premier events of the Olympics."
Trinidad's Boldon, who won the 100 an hour earlier, finished second behind Johnson in 19.94, with Jon Drummond of the United States third in 20.05.
Boldon, second fastest at 100 meters this year, took the race in 10.07. The race was marred by three false starts.
Drummond was runner-up in 10.09. World champion Donovan Bailey of Canada clocked the same time in third place.
Dennis Mitchell, winner of the U.S. Olympic Trials and last year's winner here ahead of Boldon, wound up a disappointing fifth (10.18).
Two false starts cost Briton Tony Jarrett a chance to compete in the 110 hurdles. After Jarrett was disqualified, world champion Allen Johnson held off world record holder Colin Jackson of Britain by 12 hundredths. Johnson's time was a relatively slow 13.25.
Daniel Komen, fourth in Kenya's Olympic Trials, ran the third-fastest time in history at 5,000 meters with a time of 12 minutes, 51.60 seconds. Only Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia (12:44.39) and Salah Hissou of Morocco (12:50.80) have recorded faster times. Hissou's No. 2 time was set a month ago in Rome.
Bob Kennedy of the United States established himself as an Olympic contender by becoming the first non-African to run below 13 minutes, clocking 12:58.75. South Africa-born Sydney Maree held the previous U.S. record of 13:01.15, set in 1985.
In the 3,000 steeplechase, Gideon Chirchir set a world seasonal best of 8:07.97. Kenyan runners finished 1-7 in the race. Gwen Torrence, the world's top female sprinter, withdrew from the women's 100 after "waking up early in the morning with a swollen mouth, lips, eyes and itching all over her body," meet director Rajne Soderberg said. "She has a general allergic reaction."
Chryste Gaines of the United States won the race in 11.11.