Michael Norman went back to basics in the offseason and said he put all of his training together for the first time this season. Photo by Chloe Montague
Michael Norman won the Prefontaine Classic in the 400-meters .42 seconds ahead of second place finisher Kirani James with a Diamond League record time of 43.60 after “taking a couple steps back” during the off-season to go back to the basics.
In the fall, to prepare for this season, Norman went back to the traditional blueprint model of hard work, consistency, diet and training. From there, Norman and his coach, Quincy Watts, started tailoring to get a feel for the 400 again.
Norman said they had to rewire his brain to get back to where he is today. He felt that this race had aligned with his applied training since the execution was “much more traditional” than his past races.
“I think it has been paying off,” Norman said. “This is the first time I’ve run a good race.”
Norman’s consistent speed gave him an edge over his competitors, who slowed down in the last 100 when Norman sped up. In addition to the Diamond League record, Norman’s time surpassed Michael Johnson’s meet record of 43.92 seconds and is the fastest time in the world this year.
Norman said his main goal this meet was to be patient through the men’s 200 meters. He had “zero expectations” and “had no idea” what he was going to run coming into the 400 meters today.
“It feels good to be able to run the way that I have been training for,” he said.
While Norman said he is “pretty pleased” with his performance, he ultimately cannot “necessarily say it was great race” until he analyzes it with Watts.
Norman also attributed his feat today to the weather
“Something about when the track is wet, I run faster,” he said with a smile.
Nonetheless, Norman said he was looking forward to heading back home to work hard and “make his way to worlds” to get a shot at gold.
Second-place finisher Kirani James finished in 44.02, and third-place finisher Matthew Hudson-Smith finished with a time of 44.35.
