Mark It Down: 43.18

Even by Michael Johnson’s standards, it has been a good week. He is not going to win three gold medals, as he did in Goteborg, Sweden, in 1995, or double in the 200 and 400 meters, as he did there and in the Atlanta Olympics in ‘96, but he has convinced his critics that he loves children and set a world record.

Second things first. He ran the 400-meter final in track and field’s World Championships on Thursday night at Estadio Olimpico in 43.18 seconds.

Although that is only the second time in 31 years that the world record in the event has been broken and the first time since 1988, when Butch Reynolds ran 43.29 in Zurich, Switzerland, it wasn’t as if you couldn’t see it coming.

After Johnson ran 43.95 in Tuesday night’s semifinals, despite shutting down with 20 meters to go, USA Track & Field’s media representatives wrote a press release that was to be issued only in case of a world record. Instead of leaving a space for the time blank, they typed in this one: 43.18.

But what was truly staggering about his race, what no one could have predicted, was the distance between Johnson and the other runners at the finish. To call them competitors would give him far too little credit for his dominance.

Brazil’s Sanderlei Parrela was second, 1.11 seconds behind in 44.29. Mexico’s Alejandro Cardenas was third in 44.31.

The last time anyone won the men’s 400 meters in a major international championship by a second or more was in the first of the modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens, when Thomas Burke of the United States was hand-timed in 54.2 to second-place compatriot Herbert Jamison’s 55.2.

“It’s been 11 years chasing it, and I finally did it,” Johnson said.

The look on the normally stoic Johnson’s face when he crossed the finish line and saw his time, initially flashed on the electronic timer at 43.19, registered his thrill. He celebrated by raising his index fingers in the air as if he were firing six-shooters--he’s a Texan, you know, from Dallas--and then knelt on the track in prayer.

Knowing how this is done after having twice broken the 200 world record in Atlanta in ‘96, running a stunning 19.32 in the Olympic final, stood by the timer so photographers could take his picture beside his 43.18. The only man who had held the world record in both events until now is Tommie Smith.

Johnson then started on his victory lap, veering at one point onto the outer circle along the railing to high-five spectators. He had them all on their feet, all 41,515 of them, because of his performance. Still, he must have felt the need to connect personally after almost losing the sport’s fans since 1996 to the stars of the younger generation, Maurice Greene and Marion Jones.

Johnson’s accomplishments at the World Championships in Goteborg in 1995, when he won the 200, 400 and ran the anchor leg on the winning 1,600-meter relay team, and at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where he doubled in the 200 and 400, were truly remarkable, made even more so by the events of Wednesday.

Jones, trying to trump Johnson by winning three individual events and anchoring a relay at the World Championships, discovered how challenging that can be, collapsing in the 200-meter semifinals with back spasms and cramps.

Still reporting pain and occasional spasms Thursday, she withdrew from the remainder of the meet. She will decide later about the rest of her season.

Johnson, 31, could tell her to persevere.

He had injuries in 1997, the most serious suffered in the ill-fated match race with Donovan Bailey, injuries in ‘98, injuries in ’99.

When he withdrew from the U.S. championships in June in Eugene, Ore., there were suggestions from Greene’s camp, picked up by the media, that Johnson feared Greene in the 200. When Johnson pulled up in a meet in Stockholm and out of one in Zurich, European promoters began to grumble about his unreliability.

“It just wasn’t fun leading up to this meet,” he said Thursday night. “I’ve always said that when it’s not fun, I won’t do it anymore. There were some doubts about whether I wanted to keep doing this.”

Steve Miller, a Nike official, said this week that, from 1990 through ‘98, Johnson had raced against either the No. 1-, 2- or 3-ranked runner in the 200 in 50% of his races and in the 400 in 60% of his races. Based on that, one can hardly argue that he’s avoiding anyone.

But Johnson acknowledged that he might have contributed to that perception. His coach, Clyde Hart, says, “Like we say in Texas, Michael is good people.” But he’s also a private person, not particularly warm to people he doesn’t know. He said recently that he has confidence in no one except God and his parents.

With that as his inner circle, it’s rare indeed when he shares much of himself with the media, even regarding such mundane information as his injury status. That has hurt his image.

For instance, the implication that he never intended to run against Greene at the nationals could have been easily rebutted if Johnson had told reporters he paid for about a dozen relatives to travel from Dallas to Eugene to see the race.

“Whatever role I’ve had by not giving you guys as much information as you want, I certainly take responsibility for that and apologize,” he said.

Bygones.

But he can’t please everyone. An English sportswriter grilled him because he didn’t sign an autograph after a meet recently for a young girl, who turned out to be the child of the promoter in Stockholm.

“I can’t be perfect,” Johnson said. “I can’t do everything for everyone. But I do the best I can. I give autograph sessions. I attend camps for children. I love children.”

OK. Now how does he feel about senior citizens and dogs?

*

Randy Harvey can be reached at his e-mail address: randy.harvey@latimes.com.

Long-Standing Track

and Field Records

WOMEN’S 800: 16 years, 1 month--Jarmila Kratochvilova, Czechoslovakia, 1:53.28, July 26, 1983, Munich, Germany.

WOMEN’S 400: 13 years, 10 months--Marita Koch, East Germany, 47.60, Oct. 6, 1985, Canberra, Australia.

WOMEN’S 400 RELAY: 13 years, 10 months--East Germany, 41.37, Oct. 6, 1985, Canberra, Australia.

MEN’S DISCUS: 13 years, 2 months--Jurgen Schult, East Germany, 243-0, June 6, 1986, Neubrandenburg, Germany.

MEN’S HAMMER: 13 years--Yuri Sedykh, Soviet Union, 284-7, Aug. 30, 1986, Stuttgart, Germany.

WOMEN’S SHOTPUT: 12 years, 2 months--Natalya Lisovskaya, Soviet Union, 74-3, June 7, 1987, Moscow.

WOMEN’S HIGH JUMP: 12 years--Stefka Kostadinova, Bulgaria, 6-10 1/4, Aug. 30, 1987, Rome.

WOMEN’S LONG JUMP: 11 years, 2 months--Galina Chistyakova, Soviet Union, 24-8 1/4, June 11, 1988, St. Petersburg, Russia.

WOMEN’S 100: 11 years, 1 month--Florence Griffith Joyner, United States, 10.49, July 16, 1988, Indianapolis.

WOMEN’S 100 HURDLES: 11 years--Yordanka Donkova, Bulgaria, 12.21, Aug. 20, 1988, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria.

WOMEN’S JAVELIN: 10 years, 11 months--Petra Felke, East Germany, 262-5, Sept. 9, 1988, Potsdam, Germany.

WOMEN’S HEPTATHLON: 10 years 11 months--Jackie Joyner-Kersee, United States, 7,291 points, Sept. 23-24, 1988, Seoul, South Korea.

WOMEN’S 200: 10 years, 11 months--Florence Griffith Joyner, United States, 21.34, Sept. 29, 1988, Seoul, South Korea.