If you listened to the Iwan Thomas podcast, you’ll hear references of the 1998 Oslo 400 meter race where Mark Richardson and Iwan Thomas both defeated Michael Johnson. What is shocking is that this was MJ’s second 400m defeat going back to 1989.
Note how Richardson’s Lane 1 and Thomas Lane 6, which was the outside lane before the Bislett Stadium renovation in 2005. Obviously, the race director gave the favorites the preferential lanes.
Note also how dejected Johnson is after the race… you’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear some of Thomas’ post race “bar scene” moments. Classic.
Here is that video on Youtube.
UPDATE: Sorry, the video is no longer on YouTube.
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Looking at this it appears that MJ lost this at the 200m mark. Also the effort he is putting into running that 3rd 100 looks to be a bit much for him.
It may have been one of those races they discovered something to advance his training for 1999.
@Adarian – 1998 is an “off year” for Americans as there is no WC or OLY games to peak for. The Goodwill Games come to mind, and that’s where the USA team set the WR for the 4×400. But he did get it together the follwing year for the solo 400m WR.
This just shows that anyone can win on any given day! Does anyone recall if Richardson and/or Thomas made any more noise during the 1998 season?
Jay Hicks
Editor
http://www/preracejitters.com
Thomas went on to win the IAAF World Cup, European Championships and Commonwealth Games in 1998. Note that MJ was not eligible to run the last 2 races due to citizenship.