Norman captures gold for U.S. in men's 400 meters
Michael Norman got some redemption Friday evening.
Norman exploded out of the final curve and surged down the home stretch to win the men’s 400 meters on day eight of the World Athletics Championships, pulling away from Kirani James of Grenada over the final 80 meters to win in 44.29 seconds.
It was the first medal for an American man in the 400 since LaShawn Merritt won in 2013. James finished second in 44.48, Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith was third in 44.66 and Champion Allison of the U.S. was fourth in 44.77.
“It feels really good. It’s an amazing feeling to know that all the work I’ve put in since October has paid off and I can really say that I’m a world champion,” Norman said. “This is a goal and a dream I’ve had for three years now. To finally come out here and to win an individual gold is just an amazing feeling.”
The victory was sweet redemption for Norman, who finished seventh at the world championships in Doha in 2019 and fifth at last year’s Tokyo Olympics.
“Tokyo was a slap in the face. That one really stung,” Norman said. “I probably went through every emotion from the Tokyo final until probably like January. Just frustration, anger, everything. It’s been a rough journey.
“I really want to thank the people closest to me – the people who’ve put up with my moods and whatnot to get to where I’m at right now. Without them, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
Facing a field of seven challengers who had all run under 45 seconds this season, Norman shot out of the blocks and went stride for stride with James as those two pulled ahead of the field. James led by 0.17 seconds at the halfway mark but Norman closed the gap to 0.06 heading into the home stretch and he slowly pulled ahead of James, the 2011 world champion and 2015 bronze medalist.
“The only pressure I felt was the pressure I put on myself,” Norman said. “I have high expectations for myself regardless of who’s in the race. It’s always going to be competitive no matter what.
“My coach gave me three things to think about before the race and one of them was to dig deep. That was the biggest reminder I had going into the home stretch. Just who wants the gold more, feeling the energy of the crowd and just dug deep.”
One reward for Norman was being able to win a gold medal in front of a partisan Hayward Field crowd.
“It was great to have the world championships here just to feel the crowd,” he said. “We never feel such a welcoming announcement when you hear your name from a crowd like that. You could just kind of feel the excitement coming from them. All you want to do is acknowledge them but you have to stay focused on your race.”
Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas won gold in the women’s 400, running a world-leading time of 49.11 seconds to easily best the field. Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic won silver in 49.60 and Sada Williams of Barbados took bronze in a national record of 49.75.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Norman captures gold for U.S. in men's 400 meters
