在奧運會賽場上，跑鞋與高科技的完美結合遠遠超過了其他運動服裝，它已經成為更新換代最快的運動裝備了。2000年悉尼奧運會上，美國飛人邁克爾·約翰遜穿著由耐克公司科研人員耗時3年制成的“金縷鞋”出現在400米跑道上，一露面便吸引了全場目光。這雙僅有116克的跑鞋也許是世界上最昂貴的跑鞋，鞋面全部由24K純金制成的顆粒包裹，在閃光燈下金光燦燦，富貴無比。憑借超凡實力和“金縷鞋”的完美“助攻”，約翰遜再次包攬400米金牌，并獲得了4X400米冠軍。

On August 1, 1996, the night United States track star Michael Johnson made Olympic history, it wasn't just what he did that was amazing, it was how fast he did it.

The Second Coming of Jesse Owens

But first Johnson's record needs some background. Already labeled the second coming of Jesse Owens, Johnson was in position to win medals in the 200-meter race and the 4x400 relay at the Barcelona Games in 1992. And while he won a gold medal for his relay performance, a bout of food poisoning kept him out of the 200m finals. He vowed that he'd be back.

At the centennial Atlanta Games, Johnson logged a performance that only the Ancient Greeks could appreciate. On Day 11, Johnson put on a burst and breezed in the 400-meter race, winning in an Olympic-record 43.49 seconds, then tossed his gold shoes into the crowd.

The 400 race left Johnson sore. The following morning he decided he would not run the relay, focusing instead on the 200.

Those Golden Shoes

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Johnson appeared on the track with golden shoes. The spikes include of 24-karat gold in the shoe's upper. The Nike design team of Tobie Hatfied and Kevin Hoffer also made adjustments to the shoe's support and spike plate.

Johnson put on an astounding burst of speed and won the 200 meters in a jaw-dropping, world-record time of 19.32 seconds. He became the first man to win the 200 and 400 in the same Olympics and took 0.34 seconds off his own 200 world record, which he set two months earlier on the same track at the Olympic trials.

"It still hasn't quite sunk in," Johnson told USA Today's Dick Patrick. "When I saw 19.32 seconds on the clock, I couldn't believe it. I felt like I was one of the 85,000 fans in the stadium. I'm a track fan. I would like to have watched that myself."


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