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      Why did Michael Johnson return his gold medal?

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      MICHAEL Johnson is a retired sprinter whose career would be the envy of many runners.But after his retirement, one of his gold medals was returned due to a shock controversy over the win.
      Michael Johnson has four Olympic gold medals.
      Why did Michael Johnson return his gold medal?
      During the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Michael became the first male Olympian to defend his title in the 400 metres.
      He didn’t run in the 200 metre race due to failing to qualify at the U.S. trials because of an injury.
      Despite this Michael won a second gold medal as the anchor of the 4 x 400-metre relay team.
      In 2008, having announced his retirement during the 2000 Olympic games, he returned his relay gold medal to the International Olympic Committee.
      Read more on sprinting
      His decision came after a team mate admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs for the race.
      Michael wasn’t required to return his medal but he felt it was tainted due to his strong anti-doping stance.
      How many gold medals did Michael Johnson win?
      Michael has won four Olympic gold medals and is regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time.
      He dominated the 200m and 400m during the 1990s and went seven years undefeated in the latter event.
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      Michael decided to focus full-time on athletics in 1990 and excelled, and a year later was crowned world 200m champion.
      Sadly, he succumbed to food poisoning which denied him the opportunity to go to the Olympics in Barcelona, but later helped the US 4 x 400m relay team secure a victory that gave him his first taste of Olympic gold.
      By 1993, Michael had embarked on a sequence of 58 races at 400m where he was undefeated, and was hailed the “Superman”.
      The highlight of his career was at the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996.
      83,000 people watched as Michael ran in his golden running shoes and completed a remarkable 200-400m double.
      This achievement hadn’t been matched before or since in men’s athletics.
      He achieved a time of 19.32 for 200m, a world record that stood for 12 years before being broken by Usain Bolt.
      In 1999, Michael set a new record for the 400m at 43.18 seconds.
      It was broken by Wayde Van Niekerk in Rio, 17 years later.
      Michael was known for his distinctive running style which is characterised by an upright gait and short stride which earned him the nickname “the duck”.
      Michael retired in 2001.
      What does Michael Johnson do now?
      Michael has remained in the sporting world as a TV commentator at various athletics events, including as a pundit for the BBC.
      Read More on The Sun
      He was also a coach in the American Flag Football League and managed the career of athlete Jeremy Wariner.
      Jeremy won Olympic gold during the 400m at Athens in 2004. More

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      World Athletics Championships commentators: Who is on the panel for the competition?

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      THE 2023 World Athletics Championships are underway, with much excitement surrounding the huge sporting event.The 2023 games, held in Budapest, mark the nineteenth edition of the championships, but the first time they have been held in Hungary.
      The World Athletics Championships 2023 are taking place in Budapest, HungaryCredit: Sam Mellish/Getty Images
      Who are the commentators for the World Athletics Championships?
      Luckily for athletics fans, the BBC are providing extensive coverage of the World Athletics Championships.
      The broadcaster has gathered a star-studded panel of former athletes and specialists to share their expertise across the competition.
      The World Athletics Championships 2023 conclude on August 27, 2023.
      Much of the action is being streamed live online on the BBC Sport website and app.
      Read More on World Athletics
      Steve Cram
      Steve Cram is one of the commentators at the 2023 World Athletics Championships
      Steve Cram, CBE is a retired track and field athlete.
      In 1985, he set world records in the 1,500 m, 2,000 m, and the mile.
      Cram won gold in the 1,500m at the 1983 World games, before going on to take home the silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.
      After retiring from athletics in 1994 Cram moved in to a career in television, acting as an athletics commentator for BBC Sport.
      Most read in Athletics
      In his role as commentator, Cram has covered events like the 2012 Summer Olympics in London and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
      Paula Radcliffe
      Marathon star Paula Radcliffe is one of the BBC commentators at the athletics competition
      Paula Radcliffe is a former long-distance runner who is a three-time winner of the London Marathon.
      She has also won the New York Marathon three times and the Chicago Marathon once.
      Radcliffe represented Team GB at four consecutive Olympic games (1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008) but didn’t bring home a medal.
      She did, however, win gold in the marathon at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki.
      Since ending her competitive running career after the 2015 London Marathon, Radcliffe has occasionally worked as a commentator for the BBC, covering events such as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
      Steve Backley
      Commentator Steve Backley is a former Olympic medal winner
      Steve Backley, OBE is a retired British track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw.
      He won many accolades throughout his career, including two silvers and a bronze at the Olympic Games, and two silvers at the World Championships.
      Backley set a javelin throwing world record of 89.58m in Stockholm, Sweden in July 1990.
      He last competed in 2004 at the Olympics in Athens, Greece.
      Since retiring from athletics, Backley has appeared on the 2008 edition of ITV’s Dancing on Ice.
      He has also worked as a commentator for the BBC.
      Andrew Cotter
      Andrew Cotter has been a sports broadcaster for over two decades
      Andrew Cotter is a Scottish sports broadcaster who has worked with the BBC for various sporting events.
      He started his career with Edinburgh-based radio station Scot FM, before relocating to London to work with BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky News.
      Throughout his career he commentated both rugby and golf events, covering major competitions like The Six Nations, the Rugby World Cup, the Masters Tournament, and The Open Championship.
      Read More on The Sun
      During the pandemic, Cotter went viral for posting adorable videos of his dogs, Olive and Mabel, online.
      He has since written two books about his pets; Olive, Mabel & Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs, and Dog Days: A Year with Olive & Mabel. More

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      World’s sexiest athlete Alica Schmidt enjoys ice bath with team-mate in behind-scenes video at World Championships

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      ALICA SCHMIDT, dubbed the “world’s sexiest athlete”, enjoyed an ice bath with her German team-mates at the World Championships in Budapest.The runner, 24, competed in the 4x400m mixed relay for Germany.
      Alica Schmidt posed in the mirror in her Germany kitCredit: Instagram @aliciasmd
      She went to the track and got in an ice bath with her team-matesCredit: Instagram @aliciasmd
      She smiled with one of her German track partners while in the bathCredit: Instagram @aliciasmd
      And she helped them reach the final after a fourth place finish in their heat.
      But they could only manage seventh place in the final as a dramatic race was won by USA after the Netherlands’ Femke Bol fell metres from the line.
      Now Alica is turning her attention towards the women’s 4x100m later this week.
      And she shared a video of her preparation in Hungary on Tuesday.
      READ MORE ON ALICA SCHMIDT
      It began with her posing in the mirror in her Germany kit as she added the caption: “Training and bath.”
      Alica then headed to a training track as she scanned her pass to enter.
      That was followed up by her hopping in an ice bath with some of her team-mates.
      She will now be hoping to perform in the women’s relay.
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      Alica helped Germany reach the final of the 4x400m mixed relayCredit: Rex
      Alica has been dubbed the ‘world’s sexiest athlete’Credit: Getty
      Alica’s dream is to compete at the Paris Olympic Games next summer.
      She was part of Germany’s athletics team at the Tokyo Games, but did not end up featuring.
      She has previously been dubbed the ‘world’s sexiest athlete’ and is known for both her social media presence and her athletics.
      Alica, who has four million followers on Instagram, also works as a part-time model and was recently named in the Forbes 30 under 30 list.
      She is a model as well as a runnerCredit: Instagram @alicasmd
      Alica has four million followers on InstagramCredit: Getty More

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      Katarina Johnson-Thompson WINS World Athletics Championship Gold in one of sport’s greatest comeback stories

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      FROM THE depths of despair to the top of the world, Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s brilliant Budapest bullion caps one of Britain’s greatest sporting comeback stories.It would have been so easy, and few would have blamed her, had KJT chucked in the heptathlon at several points in the four years since she first won a world title.
      Katarina Johnson-Thompson has capped a remarkable comebackCredit: Reuters
      Johnson-Thompson of Team Great Britain won gold in the women’s heptathlonCredit: Getty
      Delighted Johnson-Thompson celebrates her incredible momentCredit: Getty
      For so long, heartbreak had been the overriding emotion for this injury-hit, out-of-luck 30-year-old.
      To name but a few adversities, there had been a ruptured Achilles, career-saving surgeries, Covid isolation, coaching changes and training-base switches.
      Tears flowed when she hit rock-bottom – that horrible moment when she completed only three of the seven events at the Tokyo Olympics due to a right calf injury.
      It explains why this stunning victory by the Danube means so much for her, the British squad and track-and-field back in the UK.
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      It proves that however bad things can get, however low you reach, it is possible to recapture past glories.
      Now some may argue that the field was missing the injured Nafi Thiam, the two-time Olympic and world champion.
      But do you honestly think Johnson-Thompson cares?
      It was about time she earned a major slice of good fortune.
      Most read in Athletics
      After all that she has been through, the chance to win a medal of any colour gives her the sweetest of redemption arcs.
      Overnight, Johnson-Thompson had been in second place after four events, lying 93 points behind the American Anna Hall, who had her left calf strapped up.
      On day two of competition, the long jump and javelin were pivotal events – and the Brit excelled at both.
      A leap of 6.54 metres under a baking hot Hungarian sun put her top of the 21-woman field.
      And then her javelins, often seen as her weakest event, flew through the air so smoothly and confidently.
      A mark of 46.14 metres represented a personal best and was only bettered by six other strongwomen.
      It was 1.81 metres further than what she produced a year ago at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games.
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      Heading into the 800m, the seventh and final discipline, she had a 26-point lead over Dutchwoman Anouk Vetter.
      Read More on The Sun
      It was tight between her and Colorado runner Hall, 22, and until the last 200m of the 800m, she was behind in the standings.
      But by finishing just 1.54 seconds seconds behind, she was able to cement her position as the number one heptathlete in the world. More

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      I became the world’s fastest man with help from Usain Bolt but I once sprinted away from a GUNMAN and want to be a pilot

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      ZHARNEL HUGHES has become the world’s fastest man in 2023 after receiving help from Usain Bolt.And he once had to use his pace to race away from a gunman but now wants to be a pilot.
      Zharnel Hughes is hoping to land gold at the World ChampionshipsCredit: Reuters
      Jamaican legend Usain Bolt is a regular at the training base of Britain’s fastest-ever man Zharnel HughesCredit: AFP
      The 27-year-old completed the 100m in 9.83 seconds this year, smashing Olympic legend Linford Christie’s over 30-year record, making him Britain’s quickest ever sprinter.  
      That time was also the best so far in 2023 and now Hughes harbours the hopes of Great Britain on his shoulders as he heads into the World Championships in Budapest.
      Despite still yet to equal Bolt’s world record 9.58s from 2009, he trains under iconic coach Glen Mills, who guided the Jamaican to his eight Olympic gold medals.
      Bolt, despite being retired, remains a regular at the facility and Hughes is over the moon to be at close quarters with the superstar.
      READ MORE ON SPORT
      He told the Telegraph: “Usain is somebody I always looked up to. Every time we see each other in the gym, because he goes to the same gym as I, we always fist bump and ask each other how we are doing.
      “It’s just a great privilege to be in the same company that he once was.”
      However, while in Bolt’s homeland of Jamaica, Hughes also suffered a near-death experience in 2018 with an armed robber while in the car park of the training base.
      Hughes said: “I was at the trunk of my car putting on my sneakers and I saw this shadow in front of me. Then this guy is asking me for my phone and wallet.
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      “I was thinking, ‘What?’ and then I see his gun. So then it is, like, ‘OK, is this actually happening to me?’
      “It was one of those panic situations. The gun is pointing at my stomach and my face and then I just got the smallest window because, I don’t know, he was looking away for a second. I took my chance.
      “I just jumped down and hid under a car. Then someone else, a licensed firearm holder, came and fired back at him.
      “Shots were being exchanged and the guy starts running away and firing wild shots all over the place. Other athletes were jumping down.
      “When it was over, I got out and saw they were lying in the gravel, under the benches. There was a girl who uses the track and she was having an asthma attack.
      “I went to my car and I was sitting there, thinking, ‘What was that?’ It was all just a few seconds but, wow.”
      Hughes was amazingly back on the track within half an hour of that terrifying ordeal, showing his undying passion for the sport, but he also has another career goal that he would like to take off in the future.
      He uses a flight simulator to practice flying aircraft in his spare time and one day he would like to become a pilot.
      Read More on The Sun
      Hughes added: “That’s what keeps me happy, that’s what keeps me relaxed.
      “I would love to fly on a Gulfstream 650. That’s a beautiful aircraft.”
      He broke the over 30-year British record set by Linford ChristieCredit: AFP More

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      Iron-pumping Daryll Neita plans to ‘Shock Da World’ as she chases major first at World Athletics Championship

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      IRON-PUMPING Daryll Neita plans to ‘Shock Da World’ as she chases a first individual global medal.Sprinter Neita is one of SunSport’s seven SEINE-sational stars that we are following on the road to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
      Daryll Neita set a deadlift PB ahead of the World Athletics ChampionshipCredit: Reuters
      The Londoner has geared up for the Budapest Worlds with a deadlift of 90kg – her heaviest ever weights – in a gym in the Canary Islands.
      And the tune Shock Da World by American rapper Rod Wave was blasting into her eardrums via her AirPods.
      Neita, who runs in 100m heats at 11.10am, posted a video of her clean lift on Instagram and she high-fived teammates when it was done.
      The 26-year-old, whose 100m PB is 10.90 seconds, said: “I’ve been attempting that weight since January.
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      “We went to a recent warm-weather camp in Tenerife for 3-4 weeks.
      “I’ve attempted it a couple of times this season as well and just couldn’t lift it.
      “I put my headphones in, put my favourite song on, and I just said: ‘This is go time, I’m heading to these world champs in PB form. Let me start with PBs in this gym.’
      “I just picked up the bar, lifted it and it just flew up.
      Most read in Athletics
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      “In the video, you can see my reaction, it just meant so much. I screamed because I’ve been attempting that weight for so long.
      “It just meant so much that I found the strength. I said to my coach, from that moment in the gym, I just feel so switched on now going into the worlds.
      “I’ve been in a completely different zone after lifting that. It has just given me a lot of confidence as well to know I’m actually in PB form on and off the track.
      “So, yeah, I’m heading into the championships very confident and knowing that I’m in my best ever form physically.” More

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      BBC presenter Jessica Ennis-Hill hailed as ‘amazing’ as Team GB legend stuns on World Athletics Championship coverage

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      FANS have been praising Jessica Ennis-Hill as she presented the World Athletics Championship coverage on the BBC. The Team GB legend was helping to present the coverage of the Championships at which she became a three time Heptathlon gold medallist.
      Jessica Ennis-Hill stunned as she presented the World Athletics Championships on the BBCCredit: BBC
      She is a Team GB legend after her gold medal at the London 2012 OlympicsCredit: EPA
      Jessica, who was previously named Britain’s most inspirational sportswoman, won gold at the 2009 Berlin, 2011 Daegu and 2015 Beijing World Championships.
      But it’s no longer her impressive athletics record that people are being wowed by and rather her new found role in presenting.
      One fan took to social media to say: “Jessica Ennis-Hill looking amazing this morning.”
      Another added: “The BBC’s team of commentators is again very good: Michael Johnson, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Denise Lewis”
      READ MORE ON ATHLETICS
      Whilst a third joked about what a pleasure it’d be to work with Jessica and Denise.
      They posted: “Michael Johnson spending nine days sat between Denise Lewis and Jessica Ennis-Hill. Hard life.”
      Fans were impressed by Jessica’s outfit as she sported a pale pink blouse and a pair of white trousers.
      The World Athletics Championships are currently being held in Budapest and run from the 19-27 August.
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      Jessica Ennis-Hill is best known for her incredible Olympic gold medal in the heptathlon during the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
      She also achieved a silver medal in the same event four years later during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
      Jessica Ennis-Hill recently attended Royal AscotCredit: Getty
      She was previously named as Britain’s most inspirational sportswomanCredit: The Mega Agency More

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      I knew I was quick when I ran for the bus… now they call me the ‘world’s fastest accountant’ and I run 100m for Team GB

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      THE ‘world’s fastest accountant’ first discovered he had raw speed when he used to run for PUBLIC TRANSPORT.Eugene Amo-Dadzie is not your average athlete — for starters, he has a full-time job  number crunching and volunteers as a school governor.
      Eugene Amo-Dadzie (centre) discovered his speed chasing public transportCredit: Getty
      The ‘world’s fastest accountant’ will be representing Team GB in BudapestCredit: The Sun
      He did not come through the junior ranks like his rivals, taking up athletics at the age of 26 after time at university and undergoing business training.
      His introduction to the elite end of sprinting only came TWO MONTHS ago with a blistering 100 metres mark of 9.93sec in Austria that shocked everyone.
      That stunning showing booked his World Athletics Championships spot in Budapest and has only been officially bettered by THREE MEN in British history.
      But he always had an inkling that he was speedy — especially when he always managed to catch the bus or train while running late for school or work.
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      Amo-Dadzie, 31, said: “Back in the day, I grew up in Walthamstow in East London and I lived between bus stops.
      “There was maybe a 100m distance between the two. So with my schoolbag on and hard shoes, I’d just take off running for this bus.
      “One of the kids on the bus saw me and was smiling and laughing, thinking: ‘He’s not going to make this’.
      “I don’t know how fast the bus was going but I remember getting on it.
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      “The kid just stood there open-mouthed, ‘Oh my God’. So, growing up, I’d recognise how quick I was.
      “Later, I lived in Highams Park for a bit. My house was an eight-minute walk from the station.
      “Sometimes I’d leave home with the train coming in two minutes. I’d think to myself: ‘Yeah, I’m going to make it’. I’d just sprint from my road to Highams Park station and I’d make it.
      “I’d be completely dying when I got the train. But I used to do little things like that. Almost testing that my speed was still there.”
      Amo-Dadzie, who is married and has a two-year-old daughter, now lives in Rainham, Essex, and trains twice  a week with a coach at Lee Valley outside of his day job (below).
      His company, St George (Berkeley Group) developments,  granted him annual leave to be in Budapest — but he is back at work on August 29.
      On Saturday, he will line up in the 100m heats against pros who have trained most of their lives.
      Amo-Dadzie, a man of faith, said: “It’s  surreal. I’m not the guy who said he grew up with aspirations and dreams of being an athlete and going to world championships.
      “This is never something I expected to do. It all just changed one fateful day, God flicked a switch in my head.
      “I was playing football next to an athletics track and saw a 100m race going on.
      “Friends knew I was quick and would grill me: ‘If we had your talent, Eugene, what we could have done with it. You’ve wasted your talent’.
      “One mate said to me: ‘You were fast at school, why did you never try athletics?’. And in that moment, I thought: ‘What do I have to lose?’.
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      “That was the winter of 2018 and, thank God, I sit here now, the world’s fastest accountant, about to be on the world stage. I hope my story shows it’s never too late to get into sport.
      “If me, a family man, a chartered accountant, a  primary school governor, can do it, by the grace of God, why can’t you?”
      Amo-Dadzie, 31, will compete for Team GB in the World Athletics Championship in BudapestCredit: Getty More