Johnson quits the big time

Michael Johnson - the best all-round sprinter in history

The retirement of 400m legend Michael Johnson from major international competition marks the end of a golden era of sprinting.

Johnson redefined the parameters of both the single lap and 200m events throughout the last decade.

Having turned 33 earlier this month, the Athens Olympics in 2004 were never a conceivable objective. But age apart, there was also nothing else for the man to do.

Once you've won six individual world titles (twice completing the 200m/400m double), three 4x400m relay world titles, three individual Olympic titles and one relay gold medal, there's not that much more to achieve.

Magical

Only one man could wear these spikes

In the chilly night air of the Olympic Stadium in Sydney, the magical 43-second barrier for the 400m proved impossible to crack.

That such an incredible time was ever considered a possibility is testament to the magnitude of Johnson's abilities.

Forget for a moment the peculiar stride which attracted so much comment. Sometimes it's hard to see the wood for the trees.

He may have been compared to Charlie Chaplain running with piles, but how easy he made it look.

Any man who can run 19.32secs for the 200m and 43.18secs for the 400m, times which obliterated the previous marks, and still look about as tired as a man walking the dog, doesn't have any problem with his running style.

Gold

Johnson: dominated the single lap

The other reason for his retirement is the lack of competition for him. With due respect to the other athletes in the Olympic 400m final, Johnson's gold was never in any doubt.

And while Maurice Greene's 200m abilities offered an intriguing match-up in the 200m, the antipathy of the two world record holders to each meant Johnson derived no pleasure from the rivalry.

"I can honestly say that since Carl Lewis left this sport, there's not an athlete that I get excited about running against," he says. "I get excited about achieving my own goals."

"Once I get to a final, there's seven other people there. I don't care who they are, I don't know who they are. They have no faces or names to me. They're just seven people standing in my way."

Disappointments

Disappointments have been few and far between, save an embarrassing exit in the 200m 1992 Olympic semi-finals and being forced to pull up injured in his bitter duel with 100m Olympic champion Donovan Bailey in 1997, who accused him of being a chicken.

Johnson was never the most quotable of athletes, more comfortable letting his running do the talking. He would never have indulged in the show-boating that was seen from the USA 4x100m relay team on Saturday night.

He prefers to focus, he says, on his own pursuit of Olympic athletics history.

"To make history, that is something that motivates me. Winning the Olympics is important. Making history is more important."

Gap

Johnson with son Sebastian

The quiet Texan's retirement will leave a major gap in the one lap event. Alvin Harrison, who took Olympic silver, finished three-quarters of a second down in a time that a fit Iwan Thomas or Mark Richardson would fancy matching.

Whoever takes his mantle of world champion, it is unlikely they will get near his world record nor win the right to run in 24-carat gold spikes.

Maybe the next man to dominate in such a way will be another Johnson - Sebastian, Michael's year-old son.