US 400m World and Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner is confident he will be able to break retired legend Michael Johnson’s world record in three or four years.
“I am probably within three or four years of breaking the world record. Hopefully, I will be able to make it in the Beijing Olympics. It is the best chance to break the record,” Wariner said in Shanghai.
“Right now, I have to keep my consistency like what I have done every day. And I have to work hard and give my time to get closer to it.”
From the outside, the two athletes appear incomparable: Johnson was muscular, 6-feet-tall and 180 pounds while the skinnier Wariner is 6 foot and 165-pounds. Johnson had an upright, choppy style. Wariner’s style is fluid.
But 22-year-old Wariner, who dominated the men’s 400 metres in 2006 with the four fastest times in the world, is on the way to replacing Johnson as the fastest man in 400m.
His fastest times this season 43.62 in Rome and 43.91 in Paris put Wariner in a very exclusive club. Only Johnson, Quincy Watts and now Wariner have broken the 44-second barrier three times in their careers.
Wariner believes that Johnson’s 43.18 world record, set in 1999 is not the only record within reach. He also believes he can break the record of 43 seconds.
“Breaking 43 seconds is possible. It is tough to do. But I will try to run as hard as I can and train more and try to be the first man to break 43 seconds,” he said.
By the 1996 Olympics, the then-22-year-old Johnson had won 54 straight finals in the 400m and had not been beaten at that distance in seven years.
Wariner does not boast this brilliant record yet but he has the World and Olympic titles under the belt, a feat Johnson did not achieve by age 22. More importantly, he has lots of time ahead of him to establish his era.
" We have seen how Michael did in his career. I hope I can exceed the record Michael made in 400. I have a lot of ambitions, go to the end-season in China and just still be No 1 and be dominant and make sure next year I go out there and to know I can still win," Wariner said.
His ambition stems from his impressive performances in major tournaments and his consistent improvement from year to year.
At 2005 World Outdoor Championship in Helsinki, Finland, Wariner won the race in a then-personal-best time of 43.93 seconds.
Source: China Daily
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