Michael Norman College

Olympic gold medalist Michael Norman, who won at Tokyo 2020, was born on December 3, 1997. In 2018, his 44.52-second indoor 400-meter time was the most in the world. His outdoor time of 43.45, recorded in the 2019 Mt. SAC Relays, ties him for fourth place on the all-time list. He won the 200-meter and the 4x100-meter relay world junior titles in 2016 and in 2022, he won the 400-meter and 4x400-meter relay world titles.

At the 2016 Olympic Trials, Norman defeated then reigning USA champion Justin Gatlin in a 200-meter semifinal heat that garnered him notice on a global scale as a high school senior. In the end, he finished fifth in the final and missed out on making the Olympic team. Nevertheless, he won two gold medals at the World Junior Championships that same year, with his 200-meter championship record standing out at 20.17.

What college did Michael Norman go to?

Michael Norman went to the University of Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, graduating in 2019.

At the 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, Norman set a college record by clocking 44.52 seconds in the 400 meters. He broke the American and collegiate records later that day in a world-best time of 3:00.77 with the rest of the USC Trojans 4x400 meter relay team.

However, the 400-meter and 4x400-meter relay performances beat the official world records, they were not recognized for a number of technical reasons, including the fact that teammate Rai Benjamin had not yet received approval from the IAAF to compete for the United States.

Norman set a new world record in the 400 meters in June 2018 at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, clocking in at 43.61 seconds, becoming the sixth-fastest 400-meter runner in history. He also won the 2018 Bowerman Award as the first USC Trojan.

Michael Norman High School

Norman attended Vista Murrieta and, in his junior and senior seasons, which led his team to the California state championship. In the 200-meter race, Norman finished first at the Junior Outdoor Championships and fifth at the Olympic Trials in 2016, and in the same year, he won the National Gatorade Track Athlete of the Year.

Norman was also the winner of the 200-meter and 4x100-meter relays at the World Junior Championships; his performance at both places in the top-10 made him the only high school runner to achieve this. His 200-meter best time of 20.14 places him third among all high school runners, and his 400-meter best time of 45.19 places him seventh among all prep runners.

Michael Norman Personal Best