Michael Johnson gives fans a farewell thrill

Michael Johnson ran an emotional farewell lap after winning a relay gold medal at the Goodwill Games on Friday, saying he would miss everything about the sport and looked forward to seeing his world records broken.

The 33-year-old, who holds the world record for at 200 and 400 metres, also plans to run an exhibition relay in Japan next week but said the Goodwill Games, where he anchored the U.S. 4x400m relay team to a gold medal, was his last serious race.

Asked how long his records would stand the American said: "I have no idea. I really don't spend any time thinking how long they are going to last".

"I have no control over that at all. In terms of whether it will pain me when they're broken, no, records are made to be broken.

"When they are broken, if I'm still alive, hopefully I'll be there to witness it because it will be a great performance.

"The joy of breaking a world record is breaking a world record, not being 70 years old and being able to say I'm still the world record holder."

Johnson said he was an even bigger fan of the sport now that he was retired and that he planned to attend world championships and the Olympics.

"I think I will miss everything ... I'll miss the pressure of being at the top, I'll miss representing my country, I'll miss training," he said.

"My goal has always been to learn more every day and working towards that."

LUCKY LIFE

Johnson said he had always felt fortunate to be able to make a living doing what he loved.

"I've had my fun and I've had everything that I've wanted in my career," Johnson said.

"This year truly was the year I wanted to be there for the fans. They feel part of the whole deal and that's what happened all year. Everywhere I've been this summer, it's been great."

Johnson, who won five Olympic gold medals and nine world titles, reached the pinnacle of his career when he won the 200 and 400 metres at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

However, four years later Sydney provided the Texan with an even greater Olympic thrill.

"If they're going to have a world championships here in Australia, I've had a great time here in Brisbane but Sydney last year was unbelievable," Johnson said.

"I don't know if there'll ever be another Olympics with that kind of thing.

"There's going to be a lot of pressure from here on because the Olympics will try to follow what happened in Sydney last year.

"I think that all the performances could have been crap and it would have been a great Olympics.

"It was that kind of organisation, that kind of hospitality from the city and the entertainment, it was unbelievable.

"Nobody wanted to leave. If they are going to bring the world championships to Australia, Sydney is the place to do it."