Mia Prøsch Johnsen

Happy birthday to Norway’s sprinter Mia Prøsch Johnsen, who ran the fastest 200m of her life just five weeks ago.

In June at the Lillehammer Lekene, on her home track, Johnsen ran 24.84 over 200m with a legal wind — a personal best, and the most recent race on her record. There is no better shape for a season to be in than that: your quickest time is also your latest time. Her 100m best stands at 12.27, set at the Norwegian Championships, and she has run 56.72 over 400m, which is the range of someone whose best distance may not be settled yet.

One of the nicest things about her set-up is who she trains beside. Her closest friend and daily training partner is fellow Lillehammer sprinter Malin Furuhaug (@malinfuruhaug) — the two of them are together every single day and then line up against each other on race day, and their local paper ran a feature on exactly that, headlined with their own line: we wish each other success. A rival who is also your best friend is the most underrated piece of training equipment in the sport.

Gratulerer så mye med dagen, Mia! Vi ønsker deg god helse, mye glede og et fantastisk år framover — på banen og utenfor. Heia! 🎂🎁🎉🫶🫶🇳🇴