No matter what happens from now until the end, Jeremy Wariner will finish his career as one of the greatest quarter-milers ever and the closest thing to Michael Johnson since, well, Michael Johnson.
He has seen rivals rise and many fall. Wariner has peered down from the perch of success and seeks to reclaim the throne as the best in the world.
But if you ask Wariner, the man lost behind those dark sunglasses is just a regular guy. He loves cars and could talk sports all day long, if you let him. Wariner is a new husband and expectant father, whose older stepdaughter makes a promising tennis player. And he makes sure to pick her up from school.
The former World and Olympic champion is a different man now than the 20 year-old college kid from Baylor that struck gold in Athens in 2004. Wariner is still the man in the dark shades with all the credentials. It might have appeared that he had fallen from his perch upon finishing second at the 2008 Games and the 2010 World Championships behind LaShawn Merritt. He also missed the end of last season with a injured toe and left knee, while Grenada’s Kirani James became a young star.
Now, not only is Wariner healthy, but he’s having fun again.
“There’s not a lot of pressure on me this year,” he said. “I can just go out there and train as hard as I can just like it was in ’04. There’s no target on my back, so really I’m just trying to get back to where I was.”
Check out these videos to find out Wariner’s favorite sports moment, his favorite car, his Daddy duties, and how he feels about being the "old guy" in the 400 meters.