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Week of August 23rd Sessions:

High School Prep (ages 12-14)

HSP 16: Mon/Wed/Fri       6:15-7:45p

HSP 17: Tues/Thurs       6:15-7:45p

 

College Prep (ages 15-18)

CP 20 Mon/Wed/Fri     6:30-8:00p

CP 21: Tues/Thurs       3:30-5:00p

For more information or to sign up please call Russ Watkins at 469-424-6572 or email at russell@michaeljohnsonperformance.com

MJP Group/Team Training

Did you know that MJP offers Group/Team Training for youth athletes 10-18 years old in all sports? Group/Training consists of 5-12 athletes playing the same sport, same age and same gender. 18 and 12 session customizable packages are available. This is a great way to experience results of the proven MJP training philosophy at great group rates.

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Michael Johnson inducted into Olympic Hall of Fame
August 12th 2009

August 7, 2009, The Dallas Morning News

Michael Johnson content with legacy as Hall of Fame induction nears

As Michael Johnson watched blazing Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt break his 12-year-old world record in the 200 meters a year ago in Beijing's Bird's Nest, his heart did not sink. He did not become a washed-up old fogy in 19.30 seconds.

[Click image for a larger version] FILE 1996/The Associated Press
FILE 1996/The Associated Press
Among Michael Johnson's fondest memories is his world record run in the 1996 Olympic 200 meters - a mark surpassed by Usain Bolt last year.

Johnson handled the moment in his typical businesslike manner, with proper admiration for the athlete he labeled Superman II.

When you have a permanent legacy, a new mission and a 9-year-old son, there is no reason for disappointment.

"The pride comes from that I did it, not so much that I hold it," said Johnson, 41. "If Usain Bolt had come along somewhere between 1996 and 2000, then it would be a whole different story. I'd be out to get it back.

"Now I can't do that."

The four-time Olympic gold medalist and eight-time world champion still holds one individual world record – his 43.18 in the 400 meters, set in 1999 at age 31. He will be inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame on Wednesday in Chicago.

The selection of the Dallas native and Skyline and Baylor graduate was, not yet a decade since his last race, as obvious as his famous gold shoes.

Johnson, with his upright running style and meticulous focus, captivated the world as he became the first man to win Olympic gold in both the 200 and 400 during the 1996 Atlanta Games. He became the only man to repeat in the 400 at the 2000 Sydney Games.

"He will go down as the best long sprinter in history," Clyde Hart, his longtime coach, said recently.

A couple of pairs of Johnson's golden shoes are displayed at the Michael Johnson Performance Center in McKinney. The business is the convergence of Johnson's energies now, along with his management company that represents track stars such as Grand Prairie's Jeremy Wariner.

Opened two years ago, the center provides state-of-the-art training for clients who range from FC Dallas and the Stars to prospects training for the NFL combine to ponytailed kids ages 12-18.

Johnson said he has thought, "Man, I wish I had this when I was a kid."

Back then, growing up in Oak Cliff as the youngest of Paul Sr.'s and Ruby's five children, he was focused on school. Johnson didn't really even take up sprinting until his junior year. Hart recruited him to Baylor only after Galveston Ball's Derrick Florence spurned the Bears for Texas A&M.

When Hart couldn't find Florence to sign him, he drove straight to Dallas for Johnson, the kid who had finished second to Florence in the 200 state final.

"Fate sent me to Dallas," said Hart, 75.

Many of the memories of Johnson are of the glorious successes – screaming with joy, his arms thrown wide open after setting the 200 world record in Atlanta. But there were disappointments, too. He was ranked No. 1 in the world in the 200 at the 1992 Barcelona Games, but a disabling case of food poisoning weeks before the Olympics prevented him from even making the final heat.

"You have to take the bad with the good," Johnson said. "I remember it all. The most poignant memories are the competitions where it all came together."

Johnson splits his time here – he has a house in Plano, and his family remains in the area – and in the San Francisco Bay area, where his son Sebastian lives.

Johnson said he remains connected to his hometown by offering scholarships to his training center, building relationships with track clubs in the southern sector and developing a training program for YMCAs.

Johnson knows his son will always be watched closely to see if he shows the swiftness of his father.

"He's going to be whatever it is that he wants," Johnson said. "It's my job as a parent to expose him to as many different things in sports and art and music and education as I possibly can."

Johnson's job, too, is to help Wariner break his remaining world record. If it's Wariner or someone else, Johnson's life will not change when his records are gone. His shoes can't be filled.

"I was very fortunate that during my career," Johnson said, "I was able to achieve everything that I wanted."Johnson's Olympic gold medals

1992 Barcelona 4x400-meter relay

1996 Atlanta 200-meter dash

1996 Atlanta 400-meter dash

2000 Sydney 400-meter dash

2000 Sydney 4x400-meter relay*

*Johnson returned the gold last year after teammate Antonio Pettigrew admitted to doping

U.S. Olympic

Hall of Fame

2009 induction: Wednesday, McCormick Place, Chicago (TV: Sept. 5, 1 p.m., Ch. 5)

Class: Michael Johnson (track and field), Picabo Street (alpine skiing), Teresa Edwards (basketball), Willye White (track and field), Mary T. Meagher (swimming), Sarah Will (paralympic alpine skiing), the 1992 men's basketball team, Abie Grossfeld (men's gymnastics coach), Andrea Mead-Lawrence (skiing) and Peter Ueberroth (former chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee Board of Directors).

Notable: The charter class was enshrined in 1983. Among the more than 200 athletes and special contributors honored at the hall are Wilma Rudolph, Peggy Fleming, Jesse Owens and Mark Spitz.

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