Norman first gained international attention as a high school senior after he defeated reigning USA champion
Justin Gatlin in a semi-final heat of the 200 meters at the
2016 Olympic Trials.[12] He eventually placed fifth in the final and did not qualify for the Olympic team. However, he secured two gold medals at the
World Junior Championships later that summer, highlighted by a championship record of 20.17 in the 200 meters.[11]
A four-time
NCAA champion, Norman set or helped set
collegiate records in every NCAA final he ran in 2018. This includes his world best time in the indoor 400 meters and an unofficial world record in the indoor
4×400 meter relay when he anchored the
USC Trojans to a winning time of 3:00.77.[13]
On June 6, 2015, Norman had arguably one of the most impressive one-day performances by a high school athlete. The
Vista Murrieta High School junior started his day at the 2015
CIF California State Meet by completely separating from the field on the first leg of the
4×100 meter relay, a performance that PrepCalTrack editor Rich Gonzalez described as "jaw-dropping."[20] In his second event of the day, Norman ran 45.19 seconds in the
400 meters, a time that ranked #6 all-time for U.S. high school athletes and tied the
NFHS record.[22] Norman came back to win his second individual state title in the
200 meters with a time of 20.30 seconds, a time that also ranked #6 all-time for U.S. high school athletes.[23] Just one hour later, Norman was back on the track with his team for the
4×400 meter relay and produced yet another memorable performance by splitting roughly 44.9 seconds on the anchor leg to bring
Vista Murrieta from 7th place to 3rd place in the event.[24] With a total contribution of 21.5 points out of the 37 points scored, Norman led his school to its first-ever state title in any sport.[25] Also worth noting is that, including the preliminary rounds from the previous day, Norman ran 7 races within 28 hours at the
CIF California State Meet and still produced some of the top marks in the history of high school athletics.
On June 13, 2015, Norman competed in the
Adidas Dream 100 meters at the
Adidas Grand Prix at
Icahn Stadium. With this being his first competitive race in the
100 meters, Norman shocked some of the most talented U.S. high school 100 meter runners by winning the race in 10.36 seconds (-0.5 m/s).[26] On June 27, 2015, Norman set a California state record in the
200 meters at the
2015 USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships at
Hayward Field by running 20.24 seconds, and in doing so equaled the #5 all-time mark for U.S. high school athletes in the event.[27] This race also ranked Norman #8 all-time on the U.S.
junior (under-20) list and #10 all-time on the world junior list. Norman's placement in this race qualified him to compete at the 2015
Pan American Junior Athletics Championships, but he decided to forgo his spot on the United States team to avoid extending his competitive season by another month. Norman's times from the 2015 season in both the 200 meters and
400 meters made him eligible to compete at the
2016 United States Olympic Trials.[28]
On June 30, 2015, Norman was named the
Gatorade Player of the Year for his achievements in track and field. He is only the 28th non-senior to win the
Gatorade Player of the Year award in the 30-year history of the program across all sports and the first male sprinter to win the honor as a non-senior.[29]
College
On March 10, 2018, Norman competed at the
NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships and ran an American and collegiate record in the
400 meters with a world best time of 44.52 seconds.[30] Later that day he, along with the rest of the
USC Trojans4×400 meter relay team, broke the American and collegiate record in a world best time of 3:00.77.[31] Both of the 400 meters and 4×400 meter relay performances were faster than the official world records, but they were not ratified due to various technical reasons, including teammate
Rai Benjamin having not been cleared by the
IAAF to represent the United States yet.[32][33] On June 8, 2018, Norman ran a
2018 world leading time in the 400 meters with a time of 43.61 seconds at the
NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. This time ranked him as the sixth fastest 400 meter runner in history.
To cap off his collegiate career, Norman was named winner of
The Bowerman for the 2018 track and field season.[34] He was the first
USC Trojan to win the award. His teammate and best friend,
Rai Benjamin was also one of the three finalists.
Professional career
Michael Norman made his pro debut on June 30, 2018 at the
2018 IAAF Diamond League in Paris, winning the (non-scoring) 200 m in a personal best time of 19.84 s, ahead of his USC teammate
Rai Benjamin who finished second in 19.99 s.[35][36]
On July 20, 2020 while competing in the 100m sprint at the AP Ranch High Performance Invite #2 Track Meet he ran a 9.86s his first
sub-10 100m sprint. With this performance, Michael Norman became the second athlete, after
400mWorld Record holder
Wayde van Niekerk, to join the "Sub 10s, 20s, 44s club for the 100m, 200m & 400m sprints".[37]Fred Kerley joined the club in 2021.