The American sprinter won’t be a spectator at the championships, who won four Olympic titles and eight World titles.
Michael Johnson, a former Olympian, will not be appearing on the BBC’s coverage of the Tokyo World Athletics Championships next month. The American sprinter, who won the Olympic and World championship titles four times and eight times, won’t be a reporter in their Tokyo studio from September 13 to September 21.
He has featured on the BBC as a regular pundit over the last few decades, and the corporation confirmed he won’t be part of the punditry team for next month. His absence comes amid ongoing financial difficulties regarding his newly launched Grand Slam Track league, which still owes money to athletes in prize money and appearance fees.
The sprinter, according to a representative, “has other commitments, unfortunately,” but he looks forward to working with the BBC in the future.
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Michael stated last week that Grand Slam Track is having financial difficulties and that athletes aren’t getting paid enough.
Less money was made from broadcast deals and sponsorship agreements as a result of the league’s inaugural event in Jamaica in April, which did not attract the anticipated audience numbers.
In order to win their respective events in each of the four planned competitions, Grand Slam Track had initially promised athletes around $ 74, 000 ($100, 000).
Additionally, Johnson vowed to win more than £8.7 million ($12 million) in addition to the additional payments athletes received for their appearances.
He stated to the BBC in April that “we’re doing that.” “Our athletes deserve to be paid more,” he said. However, he stated in a recent statement regarding the unpaid fees that “we promised that athletes would be fairly and quickly compensated, but we are struggling with our ability to compensate them.”
Gabby Thomas, an Olympian, and other athletes spoke about their dissatisfaction with the payment process. Lord Coe, the president of World Athletics, has acknowledged that the organization is keeping an eye on the situation.
The final Grand Slam Track competition in Los Angeles was canceled, according to Michael at an urgent meeting.
There won’t be a 2026 series until the debts are settled, he claimed, and called it “one of the most challenging challenges.”
Meanwhile, in a powerful open letter to the Prime Minister, Olympic champions, global medallists and rising stars recently called on the government to back the bid to host the 2029 World Athletics Championships at the London Stadium with £45million of funding.
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Source: Mirror
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