Posted: July 1, 2005

Athletics: Johnson: 110M World Record 'Could Possibly Go' In Paris

By Bob Ramsak, Track Profile

© 2005 Track Profile all rights reserved TrackProfile.com

PARIS -- With the four fastest hurdlers of the year set to compete tomorrow night at the Gaz de France meeting in the French capital, the men’s 110 meter hurdles is among the most anticipated events in the Golden League series kick-off. And Allen Johnson, the four-time world champion, thinks his chances for claiming another win at the Stade de France are quite good.

“I’ve won the last three out of four here, so I think my chances are pretty good. But I’m sure the rest of the guys are pretty confident, everybody’s running fast. It’s going to be very interesting.”

A week after winning the U.S. title with a world-leading 12.99 performance, his fifth win in seven starts this season, Johnson is upbeat not only about defeating compatriots Dominique Arnold and Terrence Trammell, who dashed to personal bests of 13.01 and 13.02 behind him last weekend, but other challenges who have converged here, including Olympic champion Liu Xiang of China, French favorite Ladji Doucoure, and Latvia’s Stanislavs Olijars, who has run 13.11 already this season.

“I’m better [this year than in 2004] because my hurdling technique is better. My practices have been more thorough. I haven’t done more work, I’ve just done better work at practice. Because of that I’m able to run faster and run fast more often. And I don’t have to run a bunch of races to get into race shape. I can better simulate that in practice.”

Prior to his win in Carson, Calif., the 34-year-old cruised to a 13.03 win at the Reebok Grand Prix, solidly defeating Xiang, who last August equaled the world record of 12.91 en route to his gold medal winning performance in Athens. But even that didn’t prepare Johnson for his first sub-13 second effort of the year.

“I was a little bit surprised by my time just because of the way I felt, the fact that I didn’t have to run,” Johnson said of his U.S. championships race. As the defending world champion, Johnson earned automatic entry into August’s World Championships, and was not required to finish in the top-three. “I wasn’t really pumped up because I had already made the team. It was a matter of just running a race. For me that was just kind of like a rehearsal for tomorrow. So if I’m able to run 12.99 under those conditions, it gives me a lot of confidence for tomorrow and the rest of the year.”

Also boding well, Johnson explained, was that his race was far from perfect.

“I definitely made a lot of mistakes. Especially in the middle of the race and towards the end, that’s why Dominique and Terrance ran me down. And that was just because I got a little lackadaisical in the race and made some technical mistakes.”

In Paris, Johnson is anticipating another fast race, not only by him, but by any of his many rivals as well. With such a collection of talent, Johnson said, a world record is not out of the question.

“Any time you start running under 13 seconds, which I think is going to happen tomorrow, by at least one person, that’s so close to the world record, that it could possibly go tomorrow by whoever wins.”

Despite his event’s status as a Golden League event, in which the winner of each of the six-race series is eligible for a share of a one million dollar jackpot, Johnson said the money chase is not his primary concern in 2005.

“The Golden League isn’t my focus this year. In a sprint race, it’s difficult to win every race. You’re going to make mistakes. My focus is the World Championships and just winning as many meets as I can.”

Echoing the sentiments of many athletes in Paris this weekend, Johnson said he isn’t yet certain if he’ll even contest each of the world’s six premiere meetings. His next race will be at Lausanne’s Athletissima Super Grand Prix on Tuesday where he’ll defend his title, before Rome’s Golden Gala Golden League contest next Friday. “After that,” he said, “it’s still kind of up in the air, depending on, to be honest with you, what the meet directors want to do. It’s a matter of putting a deal together that I’m comfortable with and what the meet director’s comfortable with. And if we can meet in the middle there, then I’ll be at the meet. If not, then I’ll be on the internet checking the results.”

With a personal best of 12.92 dating back to 1996, the year he captured Olympic gold, and the considerable difference in age from his chief competitors, Johnson has earned the respect as his event’s elder statesman. But he refuses to focus on his age as a barrier. His longevity, he said, is based merely on his ability to adapt and learn.

“I have a different perspective now. The most important thing is staying healthy. There’s the old saying, ‘no pain, no gain’. Well, my theory is, ‘no pain, I’m healthy’. When I feel pain, I stop. Pain is the body’s way of telling you to stop.”

And Johnson firmly believes that his best is yet to come.

Two weeks ago, co-world record holder Colin Jackson said he believed that Xiang would be the first hurdler to break through the 12.90 barrier, a sentiment with which Johnson respectfully disagreed.

“Actually, [Xiang] and his coach said they were going to do it next year,” he said, half-jokingly. “So, maybe he’s not the one to do it first. Because I’m planning to do it this year. And by planning, I mean that I’m prepared to. If conditions call for me to run under the world record, I’m prepared to do it.”

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