Michael Norman 400m

Michael Norman, the Olympic gold medalist at Tokyo 2020, was born on December 3, 1997. At the 2016 World Junior Championships, he took home two gold medals; his championship record in the 200 meters stood out at 20.17 seconds.

Norman is one of the three men who have run 100 meters in under 10 seconds, 200 meters in under 20 seconds, and 400 meters in under 44 seconds; the other two are Wayde Van Niekerk and Fred Kerley. He has also won the Bowerman Award in 2018 and the Gatorade Player of the Year in track and field in both 2015 and 2016.

In each of the four NCAA finals that he competed in in 2018, Norman set or assisted in setting college records. This includes an unofficial world record in the indoor 4x400 meter relay, which he set when he led the USC Trojans to victory in 3:00.77, and his personal best time in the indoor 400 meters.

Following his May 2019 graduation from the University of Southern California, Norman became a professional athlete for Nike, where he is coached by Quincy Watts and Caryl Smith Gilbert as of May 2024.

What is Michael Norman’s 400m record?

Michael Norman's 400-meter record is 43.45 seconds, achieved at the 2019 Mt. SAC Relays at the Murdock Stadium in Torrance, California. This made history by being the fastest season start ever. He won in 43.45 seconds, missing Michael Johnson's North American record by 0.27 and Wayde van Niekerk's world record by 0.42.

Positioned one lane outside training partner Rai Benjamin, Norman got off to a quick start but was only marginally ahead of Benjamin and well ahead of the rest of the field. However, Norman—who won both the NCAA indoor and outdoor 400-meter titles in 2018—pulled away in the last 100 meters and finished over a second ahead of Benjamin, 43.45 to 44.31.

Norman's time slots put him fourth all-time after Butch Reynolds, Michael Johnson, and Wayde van Niekerk. He tied the personal best set by 2007 World Championship gold medalist and former Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner.

Most recently, in May 2024, he won the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix at Drake Stadium in Los Angeles, California, with 44.53 seconds and two weeks earlier, he won the Occidental Invitational at Jack Kemp Stadium, making him No. 3 in the 2024 season with a clocking of 44.21 seconds.

However, managing his health has been his main focus, partly because of what he called "body-type issues" that hindered his sprinting skills between January and May and the injuries he sustained in 2023.

Michael Norman’s 400m Progression