Olympics 2008

After the shame of Ben Johnson, we move on to the magic of Michael Johnson.

The American sprinter re-wrote the record books in magnificent fashion throughout the 1990s, winning five Olympic golds and nine World Championship titles.

He is the only man to have won the 200m and 400m sprint double at the same Olympic Games, in Atlanta in 1996. And he is the only man to defend the 400m title, which he did in Sydney in 2000.

Johnson's other two gold medals came in the 4x400m relay teams at those Games, although he has recently said he will give back the medal he won in Sydney after team-mate Antonio Pettigrew admitted to doping.

He also still holds the world records for the 200m, 400m and 4x400m relay.

So, facts out of the way, it is the 200m race from the 96 Games that I want to focus on.

Johnson had already broken Italian Pietro Mennea's 17-year-old 200m world record in the US Olympic trials - bringing it down from 19.72 seconds to 19.66.

But in the final in Atlanta, he destroyed that mark by another third of a second, stopping the clock on 19.32 seconds.

I remember feeling sorry for Namibia's Frankie Fredericks who posted a time of 19.68 but had to settle for silver.

Johnson's run was talked about in the same breath as Bob Beamon's extraordinary long jump leap in 1968 - except this was not done at altitude.

To put it into perspective, fellow American Tyson Gay ran the second quickest 200m in history last year, but his time of 19.62 seconds is still three-tenths shy.

There are not many athletes who could get away with wearing golden running shoes, but Johnson did in fine style in 1996.

His records will, of course, be broken at some point, but will anyone come close in Beijing?