Marsh Sets His Sights on Atlanta : Track: Olympian will continue training in hopes of competing in the 1996 Games.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Mike Marsh learned early in life that keeping good company is important.

In Barcelona, Carl Lewis, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell and Marsh astounded everyone with a world-record time of 37:40 in the 400-meter relay.

Marsh, who earlier in the week had won the 200 meters and set an Olympic record during qualifying, ran the first leg of track’s version of the dream team.

Taking a cue from Lewis, his friend and business partner, Marsh, 25, plans to run in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Marsh, who lives in Houston, spent his junior and senior years at Hawthorne High after his family moved to the area from Seattle in 1983. Hawthorne Athletic Director and track Coach Kye Courtney remembers a time when Marsh’s confidence needed a lift.

Courtney saw a quiet young man who joined the track team but who did not really fit in with a team that had some extroverts.

“In 1985 we had 10 All-Americans, and I think Mike was a little bit in awe of it,” Courtney said. “He stayed that way until the state championships.”

Hawthorne teammate Henry Thomas, who held state high school records in the 100, 200 and 400, came down with appendicitis, and Marsh was called on to fill his spot in the relays.

Marsh moved from first leg to anchor in the 400 and 1,600-meter relays. Hawthorne finished first in the events. Marsh also won the 200.

“That (meet) elevated him,” Courtney said. “From that time on, it was a gradual progression for Mike. That got him out of his shell.”

The weight of two gold medals has not changed Marsh. He is still quiet and unaffected by the celebrity that usually comes with Olympic glory.

“I don’t know if it’s changed me,” Marsh said. “I still eat the same, sleep the same, talk the same. . . . Right now, I’m just resting.”

Marsh said it would take hours to talk about his experience in Barcelona, but what he remembers the most are “having a good time and hanging out with friends.”

“There’s something special about running with a team like the one we had in the Olympics,” Marsh said. “It’s nice to do things together instead of against each other.”

Lewis and Burrell also live in Houston, and Marsh’s training became more intense when he moved there to join his teammates.

“When you practice with them every day, you get better,” Marsh said. “All you have to do is look to the left and right of you.”

Lewis, who met Marsh in 1987 when they were members of the Santa Monica Track Club, said the team has a family atmosphere.

“Our program stresses focus and staying with the basic elements of running,” Lewis said. “We try and eliminate any mystery involved (in running).”

Lewis said Marsh’s ability to concentrate is a big factor in his success.

“He’s very bright and very intelligent, and intelligence is very important in running,” Lewis said. “Mike has that and that’s why he’s able to achieve.

“His acquired confidence enabled him to run the best two runs of his life.”

Marsh’s mother, Jonnie Brown, also had confidence in her son during the Olympics.

“I knew he was going to get that gold,” Brown said. “I knew by the way he looked, the way he walked and the way he acted.”

Brown said the Olympic success will not change her son.

“Michael has always been running for the love of it,” Brown said. “He has been satisfying nobody but himself.”

Marsh said that his faith in Christianity helped him succeed.

“When there was just me and the guys I was competing against walking toward the stadium, I thought about all the people praying for me,” Marsh said. “I just told myself to relax and not change things just because it’s the Olympics.”

Marsh first realized that he could run faster than his peers in a junior high physical education class in Seattle.

“We would rotate sports every three or four weeks, and when track came up I would finish in first place after the races,” he said. “(Track) wasn’t really serious prior to that.”

Marsh, who attended UCLA and has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Houston, began thinking seriously about the Olympics only three years ago. Although his goals have mostly been short term, he believes that hard work, not his natural ability, has paid off.

“I never was born to be a runner,” he said. “I just kind of worked into it.”