Arsenal FC: Olympic Sprinter Michael Johnson Visits Arsenal Training Session

Arsenal had an unusual visitor at training Monday, but his presence at the club's London Colney facility isn't as inexplicable as one might think.

If you look closely at photos from Arsenal's training session from Monday, you might see some Arsenal coaches speaking to an athletic-looking chap wearing a stylish overcoat. It turns out that the chap in the stylish overcoat is Michael Johnson, the former American Olympian.

Johnson, as you might recall, is the only man to have won the 200- and 400-meter dash at the same Olympics. He pulled off the feat in 1996, when the Olympics were in Atlanta, Georgia.

Johnson also won Olympic gold in the 1992 4x400-meter relay and the 2000 400-meter dash. He still holds the world record for 400 meters, a mark he set in 1999.

So, what was Johnson doing at an Arsenal training session this week? Manager Arsene Wenger explains, via The Sun: “He has no role at the club. He’s a runner and we sometimes co-operate with his school," he said. "We send players there if they need to work on physical aspects.”

In other words, Arsenal and Wenger send some players to Johnson to make them faster. Not a bad idea, if you ask us.

Now, if only Arsenal could find an Olympian who teaches how to defend set pieces. And can anyone instruct Olivier Giroud how to hit the broad side of a barn?

Regardless, we reckon it would be interesting to see Johnson, who's now 45, line up against Theo Walcott for a 400-meter race.

Who ya got in that one?

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