享有“阿甘”美誉的美国选手迈克尔·约翰逊，在1996年的美国奥运会田径预选赛上，以19.66秒的成绩打破了沉寂17年之久的男子200米世界纪录。亚特兰大奥运会的200米和400米两枚金牌使迈克尔·约翰逊的事业达到了顶峰，辉煌的战绩至今无人打破。

Michael Johnson is quite simply one of the greatest athletes on the planet, and one of the best ever.

His place in history was sealed at the Atlanta Olympics, during which he won an unprecedented 200 metres-400 metres sprint double.

No athlete has ever won both events at Olympic level, let alone achieving the feat at the same Games.

Unfortunately, his injury in the final of the 200m at the US Olympic trials means Johnson will not be able to attempt to repeat his double effort in Sydney, although he will run the 400m.

Winning the double in Atlanta was impressive enough, but it was the nature of the victories, particularly in the 200m, which made Johnson name forever.

In shattering the record, Johnson finished metres ahead of silver medallist Frankie Fredericks. No-one else before or since has come near his time of 19.32 seconds.
The world best time for the 200m in 1999 was a full half a second outside Johnson mark, at 19.84 seconds, recorded by Nigerian Francis Obikwelu.

But if anything, Johnson domination of the 400m has been even greater. Although it took him much longer to break the world record in this event, his defeats have been rarer than thunderstorms in the Great Sandy Desert.


（南开大学通讯员 孙伟 王乐迪供稿）