Michael Norman, a Nike professional athlete and the reigning World Athletics Outdoor Championships gold medalist in the 400 meters and 4x400-meter relay, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss his return to the 100-meter dash this season and being entered to race April 15 in the invitational elite section at the 63rd Mt. SAC Relays at Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, Calif. Norman, 25, still holds the high school meet record from his 2016 wind-legal 10.27 performance representing Vista Murrieta High at Cerritos College. Norman examines being comfortable with making the transition to the 100 after completing his career goal of winning the World title in the 400 in July at Hayward Field in Oregon. He reflects on running a wind-legal 9.86 seconds in 2020 in Texas and the confidence that provided him when he decided to make the 100 his primary focus this season, along with 2024. Norman explains how valuable it has been to have USC coach Quincy Watts continuing to be a mentor and guiding him during this chapter of his career, and how important learning the racing patterns of the 100, 200 and 400 has been in contributing to his resume of 9.86, 19.70 and 43.45. He analyzes the depth of the men's 100 in the United States, with Christian Coleman, Fred Kerley, Trayvon Bromell, Marvin Bracy-Williams and Noah Lyles among the elite professional athletes. Norman is scheduled to race April 15 at Mt. SAC against Coleman, Kyree King, Cravont Charleston and Ilias Garcia, as well as collegiate athletes Micah Williams of Oregon, Matthew Boling from Georgia and Davonte Burnett of USC. He speaks about his motivation to take on new challenges at this stage of his career and how the ideal scenario for him at the World Athletics Outdoor Championships in Hungary would be to medal in the 100, 4x100 and 4x400. Norman also shares how driven friend and training partner Rai Benjamin, a fellow Nike athlete, is to capture gold this year in the 400-meter hurdles. Benjamin is scheduled to compete April 15 in the invitational elite 400 hurdles at Mt. SAC, the first time he is racing the event in April since 2018.

WATCH LIVE WEBCAST OF 63RD MT. SAC RELAYS ON APRIL 13-15