Injury ends Regis' career

John Regis has been forced to retire through injury. The 33-year-old Belgrave Harrier said the hamstring problem which has forced him to end his career just two months before the Olympic Games came as a "complete shock".

John Regis has been forced to retire through injury. The 33-year-old Belgrave Harrier said the hamstring problem which has forced him to end his career just two months before the Olympic Games came as a "complete shock".

Regis, the 1989 world indoor 200 metres champion, said: "I'd shown signs of turning the corner in my form and all of a sudden a hamstring decides not to function as normal. Hence I've called it a day. This was to be my last season and I wanted to go out with a bang," Regis said.

Michael Johnson has reversed his decision to give up the 200 metres and said that he is not ruling out a return to the event in future years.

The reigning Olympic 200m and 400m champion said after his defeat in the US trials in Sacramento at the weekend: "No more 200s for me. There's no reason for me to run 200s." Now Johnson and his coach, Clyde Hart, said he would be likely to run the race in future years and only meant that he would not run it again this year.

"I'm not saying I've totally retired from the 200," Johnson said. Hart added that his original farewell was probably due to the frustration of his failure to qualify for Sydney. "I think it was a heat-of-the-moment thing," Hart said. "I feel confident we will not run any more 200s this year but forever is a long time."

Katharine Merry ran a personal best in the 200m in Tuesday night's IAAF Permit Meeting in Barcelona, and now is looking forward to the British Grand Prix on 5 August where she will revert to her normal 400m.

After finishing in 22.76sec, only 0.04sec behind the Australian 200m specialist, Lauren Hewitt, the Midlander's 400m race against the reigning Olympic and World champions, Jose-Marie Perec of France and Australia's Cathy Freeman, is tipped to be the highlight of the Crystal Palace event.