Posted: February 4,2005

Athletics: JOHNSON: "This year, It's Almost Like a New Beginning For Me."

By Bob Ramsak, Track Profile

(c) 2004 Track Profile all rights reserved TrackProfile.com

After Allen Johnson was credited with a narrow win in a virtual dead heat with Xiang Liu at last July's Golden Gala Golden League meeting in Rome, Johnson said of his young Chinese rival: "Technically, the guy's fantastic. But I think I have better speed between the hurdles." While Liu rode his technical expertise to Olympic gold, equalling the 12.91 world record in the process, Johnson watched from the stands a few days after tripping, falling and sliding to a halt in his quarter-final.

Perhaps with thoughts of Liu in mind, Johnson has returned to the basics in 2005.

"I've been working on my technique," said the 33-year-old, one of the top names headlining tonight's 98th running of the Millrose Games at New York City's Madison Square Garden. "That's something that has really been lacking the last few years. This year, it's almost like a new beginning for me. I've been working on my technique a lot and trying to become more thorough and knowing every step of my race and exactly what I'm doing and what I need to do."

When he takes to the blocks in the 60 meter hurdles tonight, the defending Millrose champion will test that technique against another young upstart, French national record holder Ladji Doucouré. Johnson shares the world lead in the event this year after a low key debut last weekend in Chapel Hill, N. Carolina, where he clocked 7.62. Doucouré, who clocked 13.06 in his Olympic semi-final before meeting with his own disaster in the Athens final, has run 7.63 this season. Both should run significantly faster tonight.

Since emerging on the international scene in the early 1990s, Johnson has collected enough honors to rival the greatest-ever hurdling legends. Yet after four world outdoor titles, a pair indoors, the 1996 Olympic crown and nine sub-13 second performances in the 110 meter hurdles --more than any other-- he's nowhere near the end of the line.

"I always tell people that I don't feel any different now than when I was 25 years old, and that's the honest truth," said Johnson, who has repeatedly stated his intentions of competing through the 2008 Olympic Games. "When I was younger I wondered what 33 or 34 would feel like. And now that I'm here, I'm thinking that it doesn't feel like I thought it was going to feel. I feel great."

And Johnson added that he thrives on the competition he faces from the event's new generation.

"I really enjoy the fact that there's a lot of good young competitors coming up because for a few years here it's been kind of just one or two guys at the top and then the rest of the field. I feel like the race now is like it was when I first came on the scene competing against Greg Foster, Colin Jackson, Tony Jarrett, Mark Crear and myself all running fast times, and now it's getting back to that."

Last year, Johnson was undefeated in five finals indoors before capturing his second consecutive World Indoor title in Budapest. Outdoors, he won 12 of 19 finals and registered nine of the fastest 18 performances of the year. Despite his acrobatics in Athens, Johnson was upbeat about his 2004 campaign.

“It was a major disappointment for my season, but I feel like I’ve had a really good season,” Johnson prior to the World Athletics Final in Monaco last September. “I won most of my races, and I’ve run fast."

The new crop of competitors, including Doucoure, provide not only a new challenge for Johnson as he begins a new season, but fresh motivation as he enters his second decade of international competition.

"It's something that makes me more excited about running. It's like anybody can win on any given day."

Besides Doucoure and Johnson, tonight's Millrose field includes Dudley Dorival, the 2003 world outdoor bronze medallist for Haiti; 2001 world championships finalist Dawane Wallace; two-time PAC-10 champion Arend Watkins; and Aubrey Herring, the 2000 NACAC champion.

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