In an era dominated by one and only Usain Bolt, there is one name in athletics that still carries its own weight—Michael Johnson, the former multiple Olympic medalist and world record holder. The Iconic sprinter’s name is etched in gold as the original sprint king. The 1996 Atlanta Olympics 200m and 400m champion has seen his sport reach unimaginable heights and touch new lows.
Despite Usain Bolt and the spearing heights he has taken the track events to, Johnson believes that the sport needs a change to keep the interest intact. In New Delhi, during a talk on perfection in Sports, Johnson said the sport needed an urgent change in format to sustain interest. “Athletics today, in the format of the sport, is similar to the way when I was competing. That probably is detrimental to the sport. You don’t see much of a difference in the format of the sport and that is an issue that needs to change. You have to continue to refresh the sport.”
Asked in what way the track events’ format could be changed, Johnson said he too is searching for the right answer. “I don’t know the way out, but it is one of the things to refresh it and make the sport more relevant to the new audience. One of the things is to bring new fans to the sport.”
According to Johnson, the challenge is even more great now for the International Association of Athletics Federation with Bolt hanging his golden boots. “Lots of people came to watch him; Athletics has a difficult path regardless of the Usain Bolt phenomenon because of the doping menace. The sport needs to reorganise and proactively go out and try and attract new fans. Now the biggest star in the sport has retired. You need role models. The sport faces compound issues but that’s not Usain Bolt’s responsibility. It is the responsibility of the sport itself. It should have been trying to modernise and combat doping well before Usain Bolt retired.”
Johnson is an icon for reasons more than running fastest on the track. In June 2008, he voluntarily gave up his 4x400m relay gold medal he won in 2000 Olympics after his teammate Antonio Pettigrew confessed to taking Performance Enhancing drugs in the wake of the BALCO scandal. The WADA appointed Independent investigative agencies unearthed rampant, systematic, organised and state sponsored doping in Russia and also stripped numerous tainted athletes of medals.
“I think athletics has a difficult road ahead to regain the trust of fans and to re-establish credibility as a sport. These are the challenges the sport faces. They won’t change in a day or a year. It is going to take sometime. Huge challenges.”
However, he still believes that the problem of doping is not total, or widespread, and still bats for his sport. “There’s no doubt that doping has become a big problem for the sport. That’s not any secret to anyone. I still believe that majority of athletes are clean. It continues to be one of the best sport to test human endurance and human ability.”
