Norman joins Americans Johnson and Merritt, along with van Niekerk, Makwala and Gardiner on elite list of 200/400 standouts

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

With his wind-legal 19.84 seconds to win the men’s 200 meters Saturday in Paris at his debut at a Diamond League meeting, former USC star and recently turned professional Michael Norman joined an elite group in track history.

Norman became only the sixth male athlete, including the third American, to produce a wind-legal effort under 20 seconds in the 200 in addition to running under 44 seconds in the 400. Norman had run a wind-aided 19.84 to win the Pac-12 title May 13 in Palo Alto.

Norman, who ran a world-leading 43.61 in the 400 to set the collegiate record June 8, joined Michael Johnson and LaShawn Merritt as the only U.S. competitors to achieve the feat.

Johnson ranks No. 2 all-time in the 400 at 43.18 and No. 3 in history in the 200 at 19.32.

Norman is the No. 6 performer in history in the 400 and is equal to No. 28 in the 200.

Merritt is No. 7 in the 400 at 43.65 and ranks 14th in the 200 at 19.74.

The other three athletes to accomplish sub-20 and sub-44 are 400 world record holder Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa, Botswana’s Isaac Makwala and Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas.

The one distinction van Niekerk boasts that the other five individuals do not is that he is the only male athlete in history to run under 10 seconds in the 100. Along with his world-record 43.03 in the 400, van Niekerk is equal to No. 28 in history at 19.84 in the 200 and equal to No. 66 all-time in the 100 at 9.94.

Makwala ranks No. 9 all-time in the 400 at 43.72 and is equal to No. 18 in the 200 at 19.77. Gardiner is equal to No. 13 in the 400 at 43.87 and equal to No. 15 in the 200 at 19.75.

Rai Benjamin, Norman’s teammate at USC who also turned professional following the collegiate season, finished second Saturday in 19.99 for his first career sub-20 performance.

Benjamin, who is equal to No. 3 all-time in the 400 hurdles at 47.02 after Abderrahman Samba of Qatar ran 46.98 to win Saturday in Paris, only boasts a 400 personal best of 44.74 from April. But Benjamin ran sub-44 splits for USC on the 4x400 relay, both indoors and outdoors.

Norman is scheduled to race the 200 again Thursday in Lausanne, Switzerland against fellow American Noah Lyles, who shares the world lead this year and is equal to No. 10 in history at 19.69.