Michael Johnson Trivia Questions

His iconic gold shoes were custom Nike spikes with gold-colored synthetic material, not metal. They weighed just 90 grams each.

He focused solely on track from high school and never played basketball professionally. His lean build and speed often sparked this myth.

Michael Johnson won every 400m final he contested at the Olympics (1996, 2000) and World Championships (1993, 1995, 1997, 1999), never being defeated in a global final at that distance.

His 43.18 seconds from 1999 was broken by Wayde van Niekerk (43.03) in 2016. Johnson's 200m record also fell to Usain Bolt.

Johnson was healthy for that race. He famously pulled up with a hamstring injury during the 2000 Olympic 200m final, not 1996.

In 1997, Johnson raced the horse Recoup, but the horse won the 200-meter exhibition by a clear margin, not Johnson.

His upright stance and short stride were caused by Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, a hip condition from childhood. This restricted motion, creating a style experts deemed biomechanically flawed, but he adapted it into a uniquely efficient technique.

In the 1996 Olympic 200m final, the zipper on Johnson's gold spike broke before the race, so his shoe was unzipped, but he still wore both shoes. He set a world record of 19.32 seconds, not missing a shoe.