Michael Norman

Michael Arthur Norman is an American track and field athlete born on 3rd December 1997. He hails from Murrieta city of California in the United States. Norman specializes in sprinting and represents the USA internationally in a 400m race.

Background

Michael Norman was born to Arthur Norman and Nobue Norman. His father is an American and his mother is from Japan. His mother, Nobue, was an athlete and had once set the school record in 100m.

Norman has had athletic ambitions since he was a child. After graduating from junior school, he attended Vista Murrieta High School in California. As a junior student, Norman represented his high school team at the CIF California State Meet in 2015, where he won three titles in 400m, 200m, and 4x400m. In 400m and 200m, he had set a record timing of 45.19s and 20.30s respectively.

After graduating from high school with athletic achievements, Norman joined the University of Southern California to pursue a degree in communications in 2018. That year, he became a part of USC Trojans and helped them to win NCAA titles.

In 2019, Norman completed his graduation from the University of Southern California with a degree in communications.

Rise to Glory

Michael Norman received his career breakthrough in 2015 when he won the Silver medal in 200m with the timing of 20.24s at the US Junior National Athletics Championships. The following year, he won his national title in 200m with an improved timing of 24.19s at the national championships.

In 2016, Norman caught the national limelight after he defeated regnant US national champion Justin Gatlin in the 200m semi-final, but finished 5th in the final and thus couldn’t make it to the US Olympic Team for the Rio Olympics. The following year, Norman made his senior national debut at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where he finished 7th in the 400m final.

In 2018, while representing USC Trojans, Norman bagged two titles in 400m and 4x400m relay at the NCAA Division Outdoor Championships. In 2019, he won his first senior national medal by clinching Silver in 400m with the timing of 43.79s at the national championships.

Michael Norman is recorded as the 4th joint fast-runner in 400 meters with the personal best time of 43.45s.

Major Achievements

Michael Norman Jr got his international breakthrough in 2016 when he won the two Gold medals in the 200m and 4x100m relay at the World Junior Athletics Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland. In a 200m sprint, he set the championship record by clocking 20.17 seconds. In 2018, Norman turned professional and made his senior international debut in the Diamond League, where he recorded his 200m win by clocking a personal best time of 19.69s at the Meeting de Paris in France.

In 2019, Norman Jr competed at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, Qatar, where he finished 22nd in the 400m semi-final. That year, he clinched the first Diamond League title in 400m by clocking 44.26s at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, Belgium. Norman has a total of five 400m circuit wins in the Diamond League.

Michael Norman Jr will be competing in his debut Olympics at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and is one of the top contenders for a medal in a 400m race.