Grant Shimmin (Reuters)
30 March 2000 – Cape Town - Michael Johnson will complete his assessment of the effectiveness of his early season training with his first outing of the year in the 400 metres in Cape Town on Friday.
Johnson, who will be running the last of three races in South Africa before returning home to resume training for the European season, has not contested the one-lap event since setting his world mark of 43.18 seconds at the World Championships in Seville last August.
However, he has shown excellent form in his first two outings in South Africa, running the fourth-fastest 200 metres of all time when he clocked 19.71 in Pietersburg and then setting a new world mark in the rarely-contested 300 metres in Pretoria. On Wednesday, Michael Johnson re-affirmed his intention to take his 400 metres world record to under 43 seconds this year.
"I think under 43 is possible. I hope to do it this year," he said.
Johnson, plagued by injury since his Olympic double success in Atlanta, said: "I'm just now getting back to a point where I could really pick up where I left off in 1996.
He added: "So as far as strategy is concerned, having not run a 400 since last August, there are a few more things that have to be worked out.
"I just want to go out on Friday and have a good race and then go back home and get back into training."
He played down the idea of any match race with other sprinters, saying: "My response is it's an Olympic year and I've got three Olympic gold medals, so people who have no Olympic gold medals certainly shouldn't be talking about match races...they should be focusing on the Olympics. "
The double Olympic champion, who avoids the indoor season early in the year, explained when he arrived that his visit was a chance to assess how his training was progressing ahead of his bid for a repeat Olympic 200 and 400 metres double.
The 32-year-old Texan, will face South Africa's top three 400 metres runners on Friday in the last major meet of the South African domestic season.
Hendrick Mokganyetsi has twice broken the 45-second barrier this season, with a career best of 44.85 behind Australian Patrick Dwyer in Pretoria. Marcus la Grange, who has only moved up to the 400 metres this year after concentrating mainly on the 200 in recent seasons, clocked 44.99 in Pretoria in only his sixth outing over the distance.
The South African record holder, Arnaud Malherbe, has lagged a little behind Mokganyetsi and La Grange but indications are that the man who clocked 44.59 last year is pacing himself carefully with an eye on the Olympics.
