Michael Arthur Norman Jr. (born December 3, 1997) is an American sprinter. He holds the world best time in the indoor

400 meters The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

at 44.52 seconds. Outdoors, his 43.45, set at the 2019 Mt. SAC Relays is tied as the #4 on the all time list. In 2016, he became the world junior champion in both the

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

and 4×100 meter relay. In 2022, he became the

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in both the 400 meters and 4x400 meter relay. Norman first gained international attention as a high school senior after he defeated reigning USA champion

Justin Gatlin Justin Alexander Gatlin (born February 10, 1982) is a retired American sprinter who competed in the 60 meters, 100 meters, and 200 meters. He is the 2004 Olympic Champion in the 100 meters, the 2005 and 2017 World Champion in the 100 meters, the ...

in a semi-final heat of the 200 meters at the 2016 Olympic Trials. He eventually placed fifth in the final and did not qualify for the Olympic team. However, he secured two gold medals at the World Junior Championships later that summer, highlighted by a championship record of 20.17 in the 200 meters. A four-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

champion, Norman set or helped set collegiate records in every NCAA final he ran in 2018. This includes his world best time in the indoor 400 meters and an unofficial world record in the indoor 4×400 meter relay when he anchored the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

to a winning time of 3:00.77. Throughout his career, Norman has won numerous awards including the

Gatorade Player of the Year awards The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball, boys' and girls' basketball, boys' and girls' cross country, boys' football, boys' a ...

for track and field in both 2015 and 2016, and

The Bowerman The Bowerman is an annual track and field award that is the highest accolade given to the year's best student-athlete in American collegiate track and field. It is named after Oregon track and field and cross country coach Bill Bowerman and is ...

in 2018. Norman graduated from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

in May 2019 and currently competes professionally for

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

under his college coaches

Quincy Watts Quincy D. Watts (born June 19, 1970) is an American former athlete, and two time gold medallist at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Career Born in Detroit, Michigan, Quincy Watts attended the University of Southern California (USC) where he excelled ...

and Caryl Smith Gilbert. Michael Norman is one of only 3 men along with

Wayde Van Niekerk Wayde van Niekerk (South African English: , ; born 15 July 1992) is a South African track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. In the 400 metres, he is the current world and Olympic record holder, having set the reco ...

and

Fred Kerley Fredrick Lee Kerley (born May 7, 1995) is an American track and field sprinter known primarily for competing in the 400 meters distance but more recently the 100 meters and 200 meters. He has earned several medals at the World Championships in ...

to go sub 10 seconds in 100m, sub 20 seconds in 200m and sub 44 seconds in 400m.

Biography

Norman was born to an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

father and a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

mother in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

High school

As a high school junior at Vista Murrieta in Murrieta, CA, Norman broke the NFHS record in the

with a time of 45.19 seconds at the 2015 CIF California State Meet held at Buchanan High School on June 6, 2015. His time is the fastest

run by a U.S. high school athlete against other high school-aged athletes, along with

Aldrich Bailey Aldrich Bailey Jr. (born February 6, 1994) is an American sprinter. He graduated from Mansfield Timberview High School in Arlington, Texas in 2012, and was committed to Texas A&M University in 2012. In 2014 Bailey transferred to the University ...

who also ran 45.19 seconds in

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...

on April 28, 2012. On June 6, 2015, Norman had arguably one of the most impressive one-day performances by a high school athlete. The

Vista Murrieta High School Vista Murrieta High School (VMHS) is a comprehensive, four-year high school located in Murrieta, California, United States. It is operated by the Murrieta Valley Unified School District. It opened in August 2003, relieving the overcrowding at Mu ...

junior started his day at the 2015 CIF California State Meet by completely separating from the field on the first leg of the 4×100 meter relay, a performance that PrepCalTrack editor Rich Gonzalez described as "jaw-dropping." In his second event of the day, Norman ran 45.19 seconds in the

, a time that ranked #6 all-time for U.S. high school athletes and tied the NFHS record. Norman came back to win his second individual state title in the

with a time of 20.30 seconds, a time that also ranked #6 all-time for U.S. high school athletes. Just one hour later, Norman was back on the track with his team for the 4×400 meter relay and produced yet another memorable performance by splitting roughly 44.9 seconds on the anchor leg to bring Vista Murrieta from 7th place to 3rd place in the event. With a total contribution of 21.5 points out of the 37 points scored, Norman led his school to its first-ever state title in any sport. Also worth noting is that, including the preliminary rounds from the previous day, Norman ran 7 races within 28 hours at the CIF California State Meet and still produced some of the top marks in the history of high school athletics. On June 13, 2015, Norman competed in the

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

Dream 100 meters at the Adidas Grand Prix at

Icahn Stadium Icahn Stadium is a 5,000 seat track and field and multipurpose facility located on Randalls Island in Manhattan, New York City. Designed within the former site of Downing Stadium, it opened on April 23, 2005. Icahn Stadium is named after Ame ...

. With this being his first competitive race in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

, Norman shocked some of the most talented U.S. high school 100 meter runners by winning the race in 10.36 seconds (-0.5 m/s). On June 27, 2015, Norman set a California state record in the

at the 2015 USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships at

Hayward Field Hayward Field is a track and field stadium in the northwest United States, located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. It has been the home of the university's track and field teams since 1921, and was the on-campus ho ...

by running 20.24 seconds, and in doing so equaled the #5 all-time mark for U.S. high school athletes in the event. This race also ranked Norman #8 all-time on the U.S.

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

(under-20) list and #10 all-time on the world junior list. Norman's placement in this race qualified him to compete at the 2015

Pan American Junior Athletics Championships The Pan American U20 Athletics Championships are a biennial sports event for track and field organized by the Association of Panamerican Athletics (APA) open for junior (U20) athletes from member and associate member associations. They were first h ...

, but he decided to forgo his spot on the United States team to avoid extending his competitive season by another month. Norman's times from the 2015 season in both the 200 meters and

made him eligible to compete at the 2016 United States Olympic Trials. On June 30, 2015, Norman was named the

Gatorade Player of the Year The Gatorade Player of the Year awards are given annually to up and coming high school student-athletes in the United States. They are given for boys' baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine playe ...

for his achievements in track and field. He is only the 28th non-senior to win the

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develop ...

Player of the Year award in the 30-year history of the program across all sports and the first male sprinter to win the honor as a non-senior.

College

On March 10, 2018, Norman competed at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships and ran an American and collegiate record in the

with a world best time of 44.52 seconds. Later that day he, along with the rest of the

4×400 meter relay team, broke the American and collegiate record in a world best time of 3:00.77. Both of the 400 meters and 4×400 meter relay performances were faster than the official world records, but they were not ratified due to various technical reasons, including teammate

Rai Benjamin Rai Benjamin (born July 27, 1997) is an American professional hurdler and sprinter specializing in the 400 m and 400 m hurdles. He is the second fastest man in history in the 400 m hurdles with a personal best time of 46.17 ...

having not been cleared by the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

to represent the United States yet. On June 8, 2018, Norman ran a 2018 world leading time in the 400 meters with a time of 43.61 seconds at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. This time ranked him as the 6th fastest 400 meter runner in history. To cap off his collegiate career, Norman was named winner of

for the 2018 track and field season. He was the first USC Trojan to win the award. His teammate and best friend,

was also one of the three finalists.

Professional career

Michael Norman made his pro debut on June 30, 2018 at the 2018 IAAF Diamond League in Paris, winning the (non-scoring) 200 m in a personal best time of 19.84 s, ahead of his USC teammate

who finished second in 19.99 s. On July 20, 2020 while competing in the 100m sprint at the AP Ranch High Performance Invite #2 Track Meet he ran a 9.86s his first sub-10 100m sprint. With this performance, Michael Norman became the second athlete, after 400m

World Record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

holder

Wayde van Niekerk Wayde van Niekerk (South African English: , ; born 15 July 1992) is a South African track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. In the 400 metres, he is the current world and Olympic record holder, having set the reco ...

, to join the "Sub 10s, 20s, 44s club for the 100m, 200m & 400m sprints".

joined the club in 2021.

Statistics

Information from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

profile unless otherwise noted.

Personal bests

Seasonal bests

National competition record

*NCAA results from Track & Field Results Reporting System.

International competition record

Circuit Wins

;Outdoor *

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

**Final winner:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

(400 m,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

) **

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

(200 m) **

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

(200 m) **

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

(400 m) ** Eugene:

(400 m) **

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

(400 m) ** Eugene:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

(400 m) ;Indoor * World Indoor Tour Gold **

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

: 2021 (400 m)

Notes

References

External links

* * (Track & Field Results Reporting System)
Michael Norman
bio at USC Athletics

Videos

Michael Norman and Rai Benjamin at the Mt SAC Relays 2019
via MyStyle Records on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Michael Norman's record NCAA Indoor 400m , 2018
via the

Michael Norman Upsets Noah Lyles at Diamond League , NBC Sports
via

NBC Sports NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Michael 1997 births Living people American male sprinters American sportspeople of Japanese descent People from Murrieta, California Sportspeople from Riverside County, California Track and field athletes from California USC Trojans men's track and field athletes United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships winners Diamond League winners USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field