American sprinter and multiple Olympic champion Michael Johnson (55) spoke about the hardest fight he had in his life, the fight to get back on his feet.

Johnson won four Olympic golds and eight world championship titles in his career, and in 2018 he suffered brain damage, after which it was questionable whether he would walk again. The entire left side of his body went numb and he lost coordination.

– The first day when I could get out of bed, they gave me a walker and the therapist took me around the hospital, teaching me how to walk. It wasn’t too different from the day when the coach was giving me instructions on the track, I was hearing “Michael, you have to do it” again. At one point I looked back and realized that I had covered about 200 meters in 20 minutes, not 20 seconds like before. But it didn’t discourage me – Johnson told the Performance People podcast.

Johnson is one of the most respected sports commentators, and works for the BBC. During the battle, he did not give up, and with the steel will that sport instilled in him, he recovered in just a few months.

– After the stroke, I had the great advantage of being an athlete. It helped me to regain my strength and to be able to walk and run again – said Johnson and added:

– They didn’t know if I would walk again, but I told my wife that I would recover completely and faster than anyone else.

Today, Johnson does all activities normally, from cycling, rowing and running.

– Two months after recovery, I ran again. Playing sports helped me there, it taught me to be the best – he said.
The road to recovery for Johnson was by no means easy, and he admits that even before the stroke he wanted to be the one everyone could rely on.

– I spent a lot of time looking at myself in the mirror and looking for some symmetry. There were days when I saw only a shell of the person I once was. Before the stroke, I wanted to avoid being vulnerable at all costs, to be dependent on anyone else. I wanted to be the one that everyone else could trust – he concluded.

In Atlanta in 1996, he won Olympic gold in the 200 and 400 meters, and in Barcelona in 1992, he took the relay gold. He also held the world records in both disciplines (19.32 and 43.18 seconds), and in 2008 Usain Bolt took him down in the 200 meters. At 400 meters, he held the record until 2016, when Wayde van Niekerk took it down.