Fans want to see the stars all year round, not just at the big events

ATHLETICS is in a loop from which Michael Johnson is attempting to extricate it.

- Matt x Majendie wo

The four-time Olympic champion turned pundit and entrepreneur caused a stir when he unveiled plans for a new track league for 2025 this year, the details of which will be laid out in full next month.

But the 56-year-old said he was forced to act after being caught in a two-decade-long battle to get recognition for athletics outside the Olympics and its World Championships.

Asked about the state of the sport, he said: "The best way to answer that is to say the media have been asking that question and I've been answering it now for 20-plus years, which tells us everything we need to know.

"But it's the right question, as the sport has continued to struggle. But the fact that any other sport that hasn't really advanced beyond the media ask ing this question would be dead, but it's not, which tells you it's a great sport.

"It's fantastic every four years at the Olympics, every two years at the World Championships. But outside of that, it falls flat and doesn't really have much of a presence at all. But there's a real opportunity to change that. My research and from what I understand is that a large majority of those people who do watch during those times would do so again given the opportunity to have that same experience throughout the year." Athletics has tried various differing formats, from street events to World Relays, which took place in the Bahamas last weekend, but none has truly reignited the sport to a wider audience.