Christian Coleman reacts to ongoing controversy between Michael Johnson and Tara Davis Woodhall after the former claims of 'saving track'

Christian Coleman recently reacted to the ongoing controversy between Michael Johnson and Tara Davis Woodhall. Woodhall was far from pleased with the former Olympic champion not including field events in the Grand Slam Track.

The controversy had begun when Tara Davis-Woodhall reacted to Johnson's comments field events being absent in Grand Slam Track. In a video posted on her Instagram story, the long jumper said:

"First of all, Happy Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for everything, I'm thankful for my sport. About my sport, it doesn't need saving at all. It's actually Michael you're ruining this sport, if you're trying to save just track, it's track and field for a reason."

"We don't need your saving, you're long gone, your time is passed. If you wanted to change the sport, you should've changed it a long time ago instead you were skipping all of the sports," she added.

The Olympic champion received strong support from her husband and Paralympic champion Hunter Woodhall, who said:

"Stop coming back because no one cares to be honest and we're doing just fine, we're doing great."

In a recent interview with BBC, Johnson had claimed that he can save the track events, but not the field events, stating:

"Grand Slam Track is track, that is what we're doing. I am going to save what I think I can save; I think I can save track, I don't think I can save track and field."

Coleman had a one-word reaction to the entire episode . He shared an article on Johnson's comments as he wrote,

"Loll"

Screengrab of Christian Coleman's Instagram Story [Image Source : Christian Coleman's Instagram]

The inaugural edition of Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track League will be conducted from April to September 2025. The inaugural meet of the league will be conducted at Kingston in Jamaica.

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Christian Coleman on Michael Johnson's comments on his position as 'the face of the sport'

Christian Coleman on Michael Johnson's comments over his status as 'Face of the Sport' [Image Source : Getty]

Christian Coleman and Michael Johnson have had a controversial past, which dates back to 2019. When Coleman was summoned in a controversy regarding his whereabouts by USADA, Michael Johnson spoke out against his status as the 'face of the sport'.

“It completely disqualifies him, at this point, from ever being that face of the sport,” Johnson said. “This will follow him, as it should.”

However, when Coleman won the gold medal at the World Athletics Championships in 2019, with a timing of 9.76 seconds, he responded to Johnson's comments. In his words,

“I mean, Michael Johnson doesn’t pay my bills or sign my checks, so I don’t necessarily care what he has to say. But in response to that, I think the face of the sport goes to people who are putting up great performances. I don’t think anybody would care who [Usain] Bolt was if he wasn’t running some fast times. Like 9.5 [in the 100], 19.1 [in the 200], it’s really incredible. So no matter who he was, he was going to be one of the faces of the sport."

“So I don’t necessarily care what [Johnson] has to say. But I guess I disagree. The face of the sport — not just me — goes to the people who are putting up really good times and representing the sport in the right way,” he further added.

Christian Coleman had participated only in the 4x100m relay event at the Paris Olympics. Though he contributed in Team USA's smooth journey to the finals, the baton exchange between him and Fred Kerley proved to be costly, and the team was disqualified on the spot.