There Michael Johnson sat.
On a bench, beneath a tent with a herd of media circling around him in every direction.
It was only moments after Johnson had captured the men’s 400 meters with a time of 43.92 seconds, but the voice was calm. The breathing easy. The sweat barely visible.
His cheeks had hardly moved during his race as his calm nature made it tough to realize how fast he was actually going.
His time was fast enough to establish a new Prefontaine Classic meet record, but Johnson insisted that meet records don’t mean much to him.
“I’m not really concerned about the records,” Johnson said. “At this point, it’s all about the Olympics.”
Indeed, that was the theme of the 26th annual Prefontaine Classic Grand Prix at Hayward Field on Saturday.
“The Olympic Trials is something totally different from anything you’ll ever experience,” said Allen Johnson, who won the 110 meter hurdles with a wind-aided time of 13.28 seconds. “There is so much pressure and so many people put so much weight on that one competition. People’s careers are made and broken there.”
Which is why the Pre Classic was so important to these athletes so they could compete under the national spotlight and against competition worthy of the Olympics themselves.
One man who seems more than ready for the Games to begin is sprinter Maurice Greene. Greene pushed the pace in the men’s 200 meters, and won in a scintillating time of 19.93. The time would have given him the meet record, established by Johnson, but the wind reading of 2.1 was just barely over the allowable limit to be counted for record purposes.
Nonetheless, Greene was satisfied and eager for the next step up the Olympic ladder.
“I’m fairly pleased with the 200,” Greene said. “I wish I would have run faster, but with the wind conditions and this being my first 200 race of the season, I’m very happy.”
Greene was quick to make a prediction about possibly winning both the 100 and 200 meter dashes at the Olympics in Sydney, Australia.
“I will double in Sydney,” Greene said.

Greene’s win on Saturday was a little anticlimactic for some because it wasn’t against Johnson. But the two are on track for a head-to-head showdown at the Trials, and it should be a duel that lives up to the hype.
Johnson, however, claims that Greene never enters his mind.
“At this point in my career I don’t really focus on my competition,” said Johnson, who plans to defend his 200 and 400 meter gold medals that he won at the ’96 Games. “All I can control is how fast I run, so that’s all I need to focus on.”
While most of the focus was deservedly on the track for the better part of the day, the hammer throw attracted a huge audience with its early 11:15 a.m. start time. Lance Deal, the Eugene resident who was a silver medalist in the ’96 Olympics, performed for the last time in front of his hometown fans.
“This is sort of the beginning of the end,” said the 38-year old Deal, who plans to retire after competing in Sydney in September.
Deal picked a great way to begin his swan song as a hammer thrower. With adoring fans cheering on his every move, Deal unleashed six throws that clearly pleased the crowd. He clinched the win on his last throw when he twirled around and heaved the hammer 262 feet, 11 inches — more than 11 feet ahead of second-place finisher Stuart Rendell of Australia.
“I almost teared up on that last throw,” Deal said. “I really wanted to give something to the people who stuck around to watch me.”
Fellow American Kevin McMahon was disappointed in his fourth-place finish, but pleased for Deal.
“It’s tough when you know how far you can throw and it just doesn’t get out there,” McMahon said. “So it’s frustrating. But I’m happy for Lance. This is a great hometown farewell. It’s ideal — get the pun?”
Other winners on the afternoon included Khadevis Robinson, who thrilled the onlookers with his 800 meter winning time of 1:45.90, and Coby Miller, who captured the 100 meters with a clocking of 10.00. Miller’s time established a new meet record, breaking the old record time of 10.08, set by none other than Carl Lewis.
Nick Hysong captured the pole vault with a leap of 18-10 1/4, and C.J. Hunter — husband of Marion Jones — took the shot put competition with a distance of 70-1 3/4, despite fouling on four of his six attempts.
Luke Kipkosgel edged out two fellow Kenyans to take the men’s 5,000 meters (13:21.59), but it was the men’s mile that stole the show.
The Bowerman Mile, named after legendary Oregon coach Bill Bowerman, again was a fan favorite. Kenyan William Chirchir (3:51.84) led eight runners who broke the hallowed four-minute barrier. Prep runner Donald Sage (4:00.29) just barely missed becoming the first prep athlete to break the mark in 33 years.
“It was pretty overwhelming,” Sage said. “But I think that helped me.”
Just as Saturday’s Pre Classic helped some of the world’s best get ready to take on the rest of the world later this year.
“It’s an Olympic year,” Johnson said. “That says it all.”
The countdown to gold has begun, and Eugene was lucky enough to be a part of the journey.