Michael Johnson believes his eight-year-old 400m world record will be broken by compatriot Jeremy Wariner within a couple of years.

Wariner, 23, clocked his personal best of 43.50 in Stockholm last Tuesday, becoming the third fastest quarter-miler in history, in the run-up to his title defence at the World Championships in Osaka.

Johnson, who will be 40 next month, said it is a "long way" from Wariner's time to his world record of 43.18 set at the 1999 world championships in Seville, according to the Daily Yomiuri.

"But I think in his career he'll break it," Johnson, who also holds the 200m world record, said at an event promoting the Osaka championships.

"If it doesn't happen here, maybe next year in Beijing," he said. "I think that will happen soon, maybe in the next two years."

Asked about a limit to world records, he said: "There's a limit, but no one knows what the limit is."

"There will be no knowing when we get to the limit," Johnson said. "It's also one of the things that makes it so intriguing about world records, because we don't know every time a world record is broken if that is the limit or that will be broken again."

Wariner, a rare non-black champion sprinter, who also holds the Olympic title, stands behind Johnson and Harry Reynolds in the world's best 400m times. Another American Quincey Watts has also timed 43.50.

He said after setting his personal record by winning the 400m the Stockholm Super Grand Prix that an attempt on Johnson's world record in Osaka was not out of the question.

"There's a chance, the track is real fast," he said. "I am not going to force it, I'll just go out there and run my race."

AFP