

Michael Johnson
๐บ๐ธ Sprinter: 4x Olympic ๐ฅ 8x World Champion
So how do you feel about Noah Lyles breaking your American record? It's interesting, because when you've been the world record holder, typically all the other ones just really don't have that much significance. Additionally, in the past, the world record and the American record were the same thing because it's been held, in most cases, by an American. So when I was the American record holder, I was also the world record holder. So my focus was always on the world records, and both of those have already been broken by Usain Bolt and Wayde van Niekerk, the 200 and 400 meters. So yeah, I didn't really think about it, but I was very happy for Noah because I know it's important for him because right now the world record is held by a Jamaican. So the American record then takes on more significance. And Noah's a great athlete, so I was very, very, very happy for him. More importantly, I was really happy for him to defend his world championship, especially after last year's Olympics not being able to win the Olympics, which I know was disappointing for him. And he's a great athlete and a great ambassador for the sport, so super happy for him.