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Golden touch Johnson ends Olympic career with relay victoryPosted: Saturday September 30, 2000 11:46 AM
SYDNEY, Australia (CNNSI.com) -- Michael Johnson has won nothing but gold. And that's the way it will stay. In the final Olympic race of his career, Johnson anchored the U.S. 1,600-meter relay team to victory Saturday night, taking his amazing gold medal tally in major championships to 14. Johnson said he won't run again in the Olympics or World Championships. No wonder. At age 33, what else does one of the greatest athletes in track and field history have to prove when he has set six world records and won five Olympic and nine World Championship god medals? Johnson has settled for nothing less than the best. He's never won a silver or bronze at a major championship. "I'm just glad I was able to come in winning and leave winning," he said. "I just wanted to make sure I kept winning gold. Just having come in again winning gold and having a record of no silver, no bronze, I wanted to keep that intact. "Certainly with this being my last Games, I didn't want to get to the last one and then mess it up." Johnson won the 400 meters Monday to become the first man ever to defend his title in the event at the Olympics.
On Saturday, he took the baton from Calvin Harrison with a big lead and, running in his unique upright style, coasted home to give the Americans (Alvin Harrison and Antonio Pettigrew ran the first two legs) the win in 2:56.35. Nigeria was second in 2:58.68, with Jamaica third in 2:58.78. "When you get the baton and you have that much of a lead, you don't want to take any chances," said Johnson's coach, Clyde Hart. "He knew he could go around in 44 seconds flat, and no one was going to close any, and that's what he did." Johnson will be remembered most for his individual 200 and 400 performances, but he's also been unmatched in the long relay. "It felt good being able to end it running with a great group of guys, and working with a team," he said. "It's always fun running a relay. We were able to win again and keep our reputation as the best 4-by-400 team in the world." Johnson said he'll take the rest of the year off, skip the indoor season and resume running in the summer. But he said he definitely won't be competing at the World Championships in Edmonton. "At this point, there's nothing to be gained from running another world championship," he said. "I've gotten to the point where the risk is greater than the reward. "I still love competing, but the risk of going out there and messing up what I've been able to build up over the last 10 years is too great and not worth it." Hart aid he understands perfectly. "Michael enjoys training, enjoys working out," he said. "But the focus is hard to come by now. When you've climbed Mount Everest five, six, seven times, it gets dangerous because your focus can't keep being there." Johnson's plans for retirement are still unclear. "`I'm going to decide during the next couple of months, take some time off, not think about track and my career for awhile," he said. "Then I'll decide what's the best way to end it, where and when and how." In Atlanta four years ago, Johnson became the first male runner to win both the 200 and 400 at the same Olympics. His first Olympic gold came in the relay in Barcelona in 1992. At the worlds, Johnson won six individual golds in the 200 and 400, and three relays. He holds the world records in the 200 and 400. Johnson had planned to defend both sprint titles in Sydney, but pulled up injured in his heavily hyped 200 showdown with Maurice Greene at the U.S. trials. Greene also was hurt in the race and failed to qualify for the 200, but won golds in the 100 meters and the 400-meter relay in Sydney. In a weakened field, the 200 gold went to little known Greek sprinter Konstantinos Kenteris in the modest time of 20.09. "After watching the 200, Michael realized that was something he could have won," Hart said. "He knows that, most people know that. It just happened to be the circumstances. We have no regrets. It's been a sensational year." The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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