In a chat with Krishnaraj Singh Jasana, four-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson talks about his unbroken records, Usain Bolt, importance of Doha Goals summit and doping menace. Excerpts
You are the star attendee for the upcoming Doha Goals summit. Can you talk about the relevance ofsuch a sports initiative in real terms and how far it will go in creating a global initiative to propel sports just like meets on environment or politics doIJ
Doha Goals is a conference which brings together many different leaders from sports together to exchange different ideas around sports in hope of their development in the society. I think ultimately these kinds of conferences are beneficial in establishing best practices and sharing and exchange of ideas which have been positive in different areas around the world. These can be implemented at different parts of the world.
What will be your role with Doha Goals this year and what areas of discussions will you be involved inIJ
As an athlete, as a young person certainly benefitted from involvement in sports, as a professional athlete who has competed at the highest level around the world and as an owner of a sports performance training organisation that works with athletes around the world, also as a television pundit who is involved with sports and has witnessed sports around the world at different levels, my objective to be involved with the conference is to share what I have seen, the ideas I’ve had and things I have been involved with and also to listen so that I can implement some of those ideas in what I do.
Is it your way of giving it back to the sportIJ
I don’t really feel that this is giving it back. That’s a very simple part of the equation here, it’s much more complex thing. If we have a much more productive society, we all benefit from it. As someone who has benefitted from sports, I see how I can benefit others. It’s not something like giving it back but something that I would not want to keep to myself.
Of all your 12 gold medals (4 in Olympics and 8 in World Championships), which one is closest to yourheartIJ
They’re all equal. It’s difficult to choose one (smiles). If you come to think, through out my career there are some championships that are bigger than others, obviously the Olympics are the pinnacle but at the same time in every single of those medals, there was tremendous amount of work that went into training and preparing to go into each championship to be the best. If I look at my career and all of the different championships and all of those medals, if you take any one of them out, it affects the whole picture. So each one of them is special for a different reason.
After having achieved so much in your career, what keeps you busy these daysIJ We’ve heard that youare a television presenter and also a columnist.
Since I retired, for the last 13 years, I’ve been working as a television pundit and covering most of the Olympics, the World Championships, the Commonwealth Games and different live sports events for BBC. I’ve been a columnist for the 13 years and it’s something that I enjoy doing. It keeps me involved with sports as well as athletes. It’s a learning curve but being in it for all this time, I’ve made the adjustment from an athlete and done it quiet well.
Has the transition come naturallyIJ
I don’t think so. It’s a different skill-set working in television and also writing. There’s always an advantage having a background in sports but at the same time, it involves a different skill-set which has to be acquired and learned to do it and do it effectively.
It is intriguing that you have a personal best of 19.32 in 200m while 10.09 for 100m sprints, what is thereason for thisIJ
Every athlete’s talent lies in a particular event. Rarely do you have an athlete who will be at the same level at three different events. I was the best in the world and the best there has ever been as the world record holder in the 200mts and 400mts. You have some athlete like Usain Bolt who has the world record in 100mts and 200mts or Mo Farah who is world champion in 5,000mt and 10,000mt events. But it’s rare if you look through history to find an athlete who’s world class and absolute best at three different events. So the events that I was best at was 200mts and 400mts; 100mts wasn’t the event that I ever competed at any championships or that I contested very often.
Do you think your 14-year-old world record in the 400m category will ever be brokenIJ
Every record will be broken. It will eventually be broken. No one knows and I certainly don’t know when that will be. It could happen next year or after 20 years, you just never know. This is one question I’m always asked and have no answer for it.
Your record has stood for 14 years now.
But there’re some records that have stood longer, as I said you never know. Not much more can be said about it. I’m very proud of the record I’d broken but it’ill be broken someday.
We’ve seen top athletes like Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay failing dope tests lately. Do you think thedope menace is on the riseIJ
I think it is what it is. I don’t think as a former athlete I am in a position to answer. It can only be answered with the help of factual information which the world anti-doping association would have, the IAAF would have and the IOC would have. Nobody else would have it so I think it is extremely dangerous to start speculating about whether doping is on the rise or decline. That question has been asked a million times in the last 20 years and there’s never been a real answer to it, it’s just speculation.
I think the more important question is whether or not the WADA is doing enough not only to punish and catch the people who are cheating but also to deter people who are cheating. At this point, I think these organisations are doing a great job but they have to make sure that they are always doing everything they can.
What are the reasons for itIJ How does one stop itIJ Your advice to the young sprintersIJ
Obviously I would discourage anyone to take that route. But I don’t think my saying this in an interview would help as no one is going to have the morals of not to cheat. The only way to influence a person not going that way is telling them through the teachers and coaches who have access to the athletes on a daily basis. Also, it should be instilled in the parents to help the young athletes so that they do not make the mistakes that others have made.
A word from you on the Usain Bolt phenomenon. Do you think he is good enough for another treble atRio 2016IJ
I think he will be. It won’t be as easy for him as the last two Olympics because he is going to be older. But I think his talent is just so far above than everyone else. In all likelihood, he’ll be up there.
USA used to dominate world sprints but now are second to Jamaica, reasons for thatIJ Can they getback to that spotIJ
It goes in cycles. The US, I don’t know when, but will dominate again. But it’s interesting for the sport that the same country isn’t always dominating and other countries start doing well. In the women’s side, the Jamaicans won the gold medal but they didn’t win the silver or the bronze medal, in the 100mts. So, it goes in cycles. When Bolt retires or Shelly Ann Frazer retires, will they dominateIJ If you take those two out, things will even out. The Jamaicans are fortunate right now to have best female and male sprinters in the world, two of the best we’ve ever seen in the history of the sport. One day when they no longer have those two, I would not say that it’s guaranteed that they would replace those two with others of the same might.