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The four-time Olympic champion supports adding another distance to the indoor track events.
American sprint icon Michael Johnson wants the US to revolutionalise the indoor roaster and add the 40-yard dash or replace it with the 60m race in the upcoming seasons.
Responding to a tweet suggesting that indoor track competitions should consider replacing the 60-meter dash with a 40-yard dash, or at least adding the 40-yard dash as an event with the aim of attracting football athletes.
This is because the 40-yard dash is common in American football and is used to measure a player's speed and by including it in indoor track, high schools might attract more football players to join track teams, giving them an opportunity to improve their speed and fitness for football season.
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The tweet also suggested that recruiters use 40-yard dash times as a benchmark to assess athletes’ speed and if high school indoor track events included the 40-yard dash, recruiters would have standardized, reliable times from official track events, making it easier to evaluate and compare athletes nationwide.
So, the core idea is that by aligning track events with football performance metrics, indoor track could attract more athletes and add value for college recruiters.
“This is my strongest non-purist track opinion. Indoor track should either add the 40 yd dash, or replace the 60 with it. I guarantee you every high school in America picks up a couple extra football guys if you make that switch. And recruiters now have standardized 40 results,” the tweet read.
In reply to the tweet, Michael Johnson said: “Think I might agree with this.”
Recently, there have been debates between NFL star Tyreek Hill and triple world champion Noah Lyles on who is the fastest athlete and introducing the races on the track would be good for track and field in terms of rivalries. Tyreek Hill and Noah Lyles are allegedly scheduled to race in a specially organised race in 2025.
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