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Johnson Breaks 400M Record

August 26, 1999 / 4:15 PM EDT / AP

Michael Johnson's world record is unbelievable, but maybe his best hasn't been seen yet.

That was the reaction to Johnson's scintillating performance on Thursday at the World Championships after he set a mark of 43.18, eclipsing fellow American Butch Reynolds' 11-year old mark by .11 of a second.

"No words can explain him," said U.S. triple jumper Erick Walder. "He's superhuman. He's phenomenal."

Britain's Jamie Baulch, who was dead-last in the eight-man final in 45.18, sought Johnson out after the race to congratulate him.

"That time is unbelievable," Baulch said. "This is the first time I've ever spoken to him. I just had to give him a hug. I just told him he was unbelievable."


Michael Johnson smashes the longest-standing men's track record.(AP)

"That's on a par with 19.32," he added, referring to Johnson's world-record time at 200 meters set in the '96 Atlanta Olympics.

Former Olympic triple-jump gold-medalist Mike Conley picked Johnson to go even faster and break the 43-second barrier.

"I think he's going to go in the 90s (42.90s)," Conley said. "I think he will go 90-something this year. You get a meet where you don't have rounds, he can run at a certain speed for a long time. He picks a speed and he stays there."

Johnson was also lauded by the silver and bronze medalists in the race: Sanderlei Parrela of Brazil (44.29) and Mexico's Alejandro Cardenas (44.31). They were over a second behind Johnson but have only one goal in mind: beating him.

"Johnson is a monster, a phenom," the Brazilian said. "But I can run better and I can overtake him soon."

"Michael embraced me," Cardenas said. "We live only one hour apart from Texas to Sonora."

"I'm waiting for Sydney to attack Michael Johnson there. Michael Johnson is my hero. I admire his skill of running with a mixture of relaxing and a minimum of effort."