Recovered Johnson to run in Europe as scheduled
30 June 1999 – Raleigh, NC (Reuters) - Double Olympic champion Michael Johnson is recovering from a leg injury and plans to begin his European season as scheduled with a 400 metre run in Lausanne Friday, one of his managers said Tuesday.
"He's had two good days of practice and is flying out tonight." Renaldo Nehemiah, director of track and field for Gold Medal Management, said in a telephone interview.
Johnson withdrew from a highly publicised 200m showdown with 100m world record-holder Maurice Greene last weekend at the U.S. championships in Eugene, Oregon, after straining his right quadriceps in a workout.
Johnson's coach, Clyde Hart, said the 200m world record-holder could still feel some pain in the leg when he resumed workouts Monday in Texas. But Hart said that once Johnson began to sprint he experienced no problems. Additional improvement was noted Tuesday after treatment and another workout, Hart said.
Hart said Johnson would test the leg again Thursday in Lausanne and if there are no problems, he would run Friday. Johnson also has a 200m race scheduled for Rome on July 7, Nehemiah said.