Michael Johnson reacts to competitive women’s 200m field at the USATF LA Grand Prix 2024 ft. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas

Retired American sprinter Michael Johnson reacted to the star-studded women’s 200m lineup who will be competing at the 2024 USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix. The USATF Grand Prix is set to be staged at the Drake Stadium between May 17 and May 18.

At the USATF LA Grand Prix, the women’s 200m field will feature the likes of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Gabby Thomas, Rhasidat Adeleke, Abby Steiner, and Jenna Prandini, among others.

Cathal Dennehy, a sports journalist, took to his X (formerly Twitter) to share with his followers about the top entries from the event. Johnson responded to this tweet by reposting it on his X handle, captioning it:

“This will be good!”

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will be in action in the 200m instead of the 400m hurdles race at the LA Grand Prix. In the 200m, McLaughlin had commenced her 2024 campaign at the Occidental Invitational this month, where she came at the top with a time of 22.38s.

Gabby Thomas has had an impressive 2024 season so far, winning the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay events at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays on March 30. She continued to display her stellar form and helped the USA to collect both women’s 4x100m and 4x400m titles at the 2024 World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas.

Rhasidat Adeleke too started her campaign brilliantly, finishing first in the 100m at the Texas Invitational and second in the 200m at the Mt. Sac Relays. Additionally, she played a crucial role in Ireland's bronze-medal win at the World Relays.

Abby Steiner and Jenna Prandini are the other two athletes to watch out for in the 200m event. Steiner was brilliant in the Tom Jones Memorial in the 100m Final 2 (11.05s) and Bermuda Grand Prix in the 200m (22.71s). Meanwhile, Prandini won the 100m at the Fresno State Invitational (11.08s) and Occidental Invitational (11.25s).

A look into Michael Johnson’s prominent achievements

Laureus World Sports Academy member Michael Johnson attends the 2015 Laureus World Sports Awards at Shanghai Grand Theatre on April 15, 2015 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images for Laureus)

During his illustrious Athletics career, Michael Johnson claimed four Olympic and eight World Athletics Championships gold medals, making him one of the greatest sprinters of all time.

At the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta, he achieved a unique accomplishment, winning gold medals in the men’s 200m and 400m events, clocking times of 19.32s (a then-world record), and 43.49s (an Olympic record performance).

Michael Johnson still holds the American national record in two Olympic events - 400m and 4x400m relay. The 400m record came at the 1999 World Championships in Seville where he clinched the gold medal with a sensational time of then-world record time of 43.18s, later broken by Wayde van Niekerk (43.03s) in 2016.

Whereas, in the relay event, he along with his compatriots Andrew Valmon, Quincy Watts, and Butch Reynolds won the gold medal in a national record time of 2:54.29 at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.