ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 31, 1996 TAG: 9612310113
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: NEWS OBIT
SOURCE: From Associated Press reports
Michael Johnson, the man with the golden shoes and the Olympic medals to match, dominated track and field in 1996 by sprinting to an unprecedented double at the Atlanta Games and obliterating the sport's oldest record.
That dominance earned Johnson honors as Male Athlete of the Year in an Associated Press poll released Monday. Last week, Johnson's sweep of the 200 and 400 was voted the top sports story of the year.
Johnson received 300 points in the annual balloting by AP print and broadcast members. Golfer Tiger Woods was second with 200 points, though he received 11 more first-place votes than Johnson.
Boxer Evander Holyfield (116 points) was third, followed by basketball's Michael Jordan (111) and football's Brett Favre (41).
Johnson became the first man to win the 200 and 400 meters in an Olympics. He broke the 27-year-old record in the 200 at the Olympic trials, then shattered his own mark with an astonishing run of 19.32 seconds at the Summer Games.
And he stretched his victory streak in the 400 to 57 straight races, remaining unbeaten at that distance since 1989.
* Mel Greb, once one of the world's top boxing matchmakers who put together the second Liston-Patterson heavyweight championship fight, died Monday at a local hospital. He was 73.
Greb, who worked for Top Rank Boxing for much of his matchmaker career, was credited with arranging some 60 world championship fights.
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP< Michael Johnson became the first man to win the 200by CNBand 400 meters inan Olympics in Atlanta last summer.