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All my life I believed I became an athlete through my own determination, but it's impossible to think that being descended from slaves hasn't left an imprint through the generations. Difficult as it was to hear, slavery has benefited descendants like me - I believe there is a superior athletic gene in us.

From Michael Johnson

I work hard to improve myself as a person - as a father, as a husband, as a manager. I'm always on that mission.

From Michael Johnson

I've had to learn that not everybody does things my way. But I do expect the absolute best of everyone around me, and I'm disappointed when people don't expect that of themselves.

From Michael Johnson

I had already been into my professional career for six years and had not won an individual gold medal at the Olympics. There was a tremendous amount of pressure going into 1996 to get it done.

From Michael Johnson

One of the main techniques I used was focusing on the goal and visualising myself competing in the race before the race started.

From Michael Johnson

The mind is absolutely instrumental in achieving results, even for athletes. Sports psychology is a very small part, but it's extremely important when you're winning and losing races by hundredths and even thousandths of a second.

From Michael Johnson

You can't control what the other athlete is going to do; you can't control anything except for your competition and how you execute the race or how you execute the task.

From Michael Johnson

There's a complete difference between training for a specific event and goal and just training.

From Michael Johnson

Rivalries don't necessarily mean races being close at major championships. I had a rivalry with Butch Reynolds for many years. I won all the races, but Butch was the world record holder before I came into the sport, he was extremely talented and he was the only other man running 43 seconds.

From Michael Johnson

As an athlete, I'd average four hours a day. It doesn't sound like a lot when some people say they're training for 10 hours, but theirs includes lunch, massage and breaks. My four hours was packed with work.

From Michael Johnson

Michael Johnson

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