Can you explain why you ran upright? What was the benefit for you?

Question

Can you explain why you ran upright?  What was the benefit for you?

Michael Johnson · Answer

So this is probably one of the questions I get most. It's about my running style and why I ran so upright. So it was my natural way of running. I ran that way since I was a kid. And other kids would make fun of me and say, you run funny. And I would say-- I would make fun of them back and say, you run slow, because I was always faster than them. And it was just the way that I ran. But ultimately, through some high speed film footage and data that we collect, that we found that my running style was actually much more efficient and much more beneficial to me than anyone had known before. My coach and I then just used what we found to really enhance my running style and take advantage of it. The real advantage of it is with the more upright I was running, the more I was able to produce more force into the ground, and force into the ground equals power and speed, which is critical for a sprinter.

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"Can you explain why you ran upright? What was the benefit for you?"