Michael Johnson tells how legacy of Jesse Owens inspired him to Olympic double gold

Jet, August 26, 1996 by Dobie Holland

When Michael Johnson came to Atlanta for the Centennial Olympic Games, he was determined to make history by becoming the first man to win both the 200- and the 400-meter races.

For inspiration, he carried a letter from Ruth Owens, widow of his hero, Olympic legend Jesse Owens. That letter praised Johnson as the runner who most reminded her of the track hero.

"I think he inspired me to be a better athlete," Johnson told JET. "Jesse Owens is my hero. I can never be like him, but if I come close, it's a great honor," Johnson said after winning the 200 meters in the world record time of 19.32 seconds to complete his historic double-gold triumph. Earlier in the Games, he won the 400 in Olympic record time (43.49).

Johnson, who turns 29 on Sept. 13, knows his history and reveals he drew from Owens' legacy to fuel his road to success in the present.

During the 1936 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, Owens negated dictator Adolph Hitler's contrived master race of White Aryan athletes by winning gold medals in the 100-and 200-meter races, the 400-meter relay and the long jump.

Contrary to most media reports which characterize Johnson as cocky, one gets the feeling that the last thing he wants to talk about is himself and that he would rather heap praise on Owens. And he would prefer to leave the comparison speculations about them to the media.

Citing racial segregation in America during Owens' track days and Hitler's Aryan master race philosophy at the Munich Games, Johnson said "There will never be another athlete like Jesse Owens. Because of Jesse Owens, there are guys like Carl Lewis.

"...He (Owens) had to put up with the racist problems and compete. He had to deal with it off the track as well as on the track-the pressure had to be unbelievable," Johnson observed.

"All I have to do is go out there and just compete and not worry about all the other things, like trying to perform better because you're Black," Johnson said.

But when he has to, he analyzes his own ability like a scientist and leaves out none of the details, no matter how minute.

Prior to the 1996 Olympic Games, there was no telling how good Johnson could have been. He had all the credentials of a great athlete except for an individual Olympic gold medal.

"I can't consider myself in the class of a Carl Lewis or an Evelyn Ashford or a Jackie Joyner-Kersee until I win Olympic gold medals," he said.

During the 1992 Barcelona Games, Johnson failed to qualify for the 400-meter final after being severely weakened by food poisoning. He broke down in tears after it happened.

It is important to talk about how the support of his father Paul, a retired truck driver, and his mother Ruby, a former school teacher, got him through the bitter disappointment.

Thanks to their loving support, he bounced back to anchor the 1,600meter relay team to Olympic gold.

"Without that parental support, none of this would have been possible," Johnson observed. "(They) instilled in me the value that you get back whatever you put into something."

Johnson applied that philosophy when he attended Skyline High School in Dallas to become a good athlete and an excellent student. But he had not shown the signs of greatness as a runner.

Johnson was actually a bit of a nerd in high school and was known for his neat appearance, eyeglasses and carrying a briefcase to school.

At Baylor University, track coach Clyde Hart resisted the temptation to change Johnson's erect, shorter-stride running style when Johnson arrived on campus in 1986 on a scholarship.

Johnson did not begin to emerge as a world-class phenom until 1989 when he ran in the 400-a race that traditionally requires endurance as well as speed--and the 200. In 1990 he became ranked No. 1 in the world in both events and was the NCAA champion in the indoor and outdoor 200.

Last August at the World Games in Goteborg, Sweden, Johnson captured double gold in the 200 and 400, the first to do it in 100 years. He captured the indoor world record in the 400 (44.63) in 1995 as well.

And in 1994, Johnson was named the recipient of the Jesse Owens Award, a "personally gratifying" moment in his career.

Before the Atlanta Olympics, Johnson successfully petitioned the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) to reschedule the start dates of the 200 and the 400, which enabled him to receive a day's rest after competing in the 400, all he had to do was run and the rest is history.

Now Johnson threatens to reinvent how sprinters will be taught to run. Instead of the classic style of long strides and leaning the upper body forward, they will have to consider running like Mike.

Endorsement deals with Bausch & Lomb, Coca-Cola and Nike, plus $60,000 in fees for races, has pushed his annual income to $1 million.

He received at least $30,000 in prize money for his two gold Olympic medals, and he is also about to become 2 percent owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

The future looks bright for Michael Johnson, indeed, all because he uses inspiration from the past.