Usain Bolt and Michael Johnson were two of the shining stars in the track and field realm. Carrying on the legacy of two track powerhouses, Johnson and Bolt shone bright for the US and Jamaica. Johnson became a track legend by winning a whopping 8 World Championships gold medals along with 4 Olympic gold medals. The US legend also held the 200m world record, clocking a whirlwind timing of 19.32 back in 1996. However, things began to change drastically when Usain Bolt made his entry into the scene.
Bolt took the track world by storm as he clinched a total of 8 Olympic gold medals. He also has 11 World Championships gold. However, despite the two being the fastest athletes of all time, they never had the chance to compete against one another. This paved the way for a number of imaginary comparisons. One such instance had both Johnson and Bolt being interviewed by the YouTube channel, ‘High Performance.’
The host initially asked both the legends a common question: Who would win if pitted against each other? And the answer that came back was also very common. Both the track stars claimed that they would outshine each other. Bolt was a little more confident, though. “There’s no way he’s going to beat me,” echoed a resilient Usain Bolt. However, speaking about the US track legend, the Jamaican had one funny bit of story to share. Well, it was more of a flex basically!
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When Bolt came onto the scene, the 200m world record holder was Michael Johnson. His 19.32s in Atlanta was thought to be the gold standard. Now, Bolt decided to have a go at the record. With the big news spreading like wildfire, the murmurs reached Johnson too. Breaking down Bolt’s techniques, the US sprint legend mentioned that it would take at least two more years for the Jamaican to break the record. And guess what? Bolt broke the record on the very same day! “And he was like, no, I think his mechanics need some work. And he needs to work on this. And it takes him two more years before he gets to the world record, maybe. And then, in the same day, I broke the world record,” reminisced Bolt.
via Getty
BEIJING – AUGUST 20: Usain Bolt of Jamaica reacts after breaking the world record with a time of 19.30 to win the gold medal in the Men’s 200m Final ahead of Churandy Martina of Netherlands Antilles Brian Dzingai of Zimbabwe and Shawn Crawford of the United States at the National Stadium during Day 12 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 20, 2008 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
For the uninitiated, Bolt initially broke the 200m world record in 2008, where he clocked 19.30s. Next up, competing at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Bolt further bettered it by clocking 19.19s. A record that still holds strong. Unfortunately, after the retirement of Bolt, the Jamaican track realm kind of fell off. But as per Johnson, there is a mystery man who could revive the Jamaican glory.
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Michael Johnson Predicts Probable Jamaican Star After Usain Bolt Era
After Usain Bolt hung up his boots in 2017, the Jamaican stardom began to fizzle out. There were no significant names that came out of the Jamaican track and field factory. In a shocking turn of events, the 2020 Olympics saw Jamaica go zero on the medals. While they lost the gold to Italy’s Marcell Jacobs, the bronze and silver medals were also taken by the others. With a void being created, the Jamaican track and field is once again getting rejuvenated.
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via Reuters
Paris 2024 Olympics – Athletics – Men’s 100m Final – Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France – August 04, 2024. Kishane Thompson of Jamaica reacts after crossing the finish line to win silver REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
And there is one man responsible for the same, according to Michael Johnson. He is none other than Kishane Thompson. Touting Thompson as ‘the new king,’ Johnson predicted ahead of the Olympics, “Kishane’s confidence right now has to be just soaring because he is obviously the new Jamaican hope for gold.” And it almost came true as Thompson clocked an identical 9.79s in the men’s 100m in Paris. Unfortunately, Noah Lyles took the gold via photo finish while the Jamaican had to settle for a silver. Thus, with the rivalry getting reignited, it will be interesting to see the duel between Jamaica and the US once again as the new season begins.
