The 2023 Eugene Diamond League delivered some of the most exhilarating performances this year. The 14th and final meet of the prestigious Wanda Diamond League yielded great attendance and viewership by spectators. The contest especially shined in terms of track and field as Shericka Jackson clinched a double gold on the tracks.?

According to World Athletics, the Prefontaine Classic 2023 achieved the best ratings in history. WAC broke the happy news on social media, but instead of praise, it drew criticism. In fact, the person to criticize the global sports body was none other than 4x Olympics gold medalist, Michael Johnson.

World Athletics receives vicious backlash from Michael Johnson?

The Eugene Diamond League recently came to a spectacular end with several upsets and new national and world records. World Athletics took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce that the Eugene iteration was a grand success. The tweet carried the caption,??The @nikepreclassic ended the @Diamond_League season with a BANG and the best score in the history of the competition performance rankings.??While this gave everyone a big reason to celebrate, the US sprinting legend criticized World Athletics for its charade.?

The eight-time world champion said that all the credit for the success of the event goes to the players. Johnson tweeted that World Athletics didn?t do much for the success of the meet, and hence, shouldn?t gloat about it. Johnson noted that any sporting event becomes successful because of two things: The performance of athletes and the marketing and delivery of that performance by organizers.?

Johnson claimed that the Prefontaine Classic succeeded entirely on the shoulders of the athletes. His tweet further said,??Athletes have always done their part! Time for organizers to do theirs.??While Johnson?s claim can?t be believed without a thorough investigation, the Eugene event did carry a lot of drama. In fact, it ended the 2023 season with Noah Lyles? first silver.

The season-ending track and field drama

The track and field world saw some of the most dramatic moments in the Prefontaine Classic 2023. Budapest WAC threepeater Noah Lyles was dispatched with a silver despite carrying massive amounts of momentum. Even more shocking was the medal-less defeat of Sha?Carri Richardson by the very sprinter she beat twice at the Budapest WAC. However, the event also carried several happy endings.

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America?s Zurich Diamond League winning middle-distance runner, Yared Nugusev set a new US record by running a mile in just 3:43.97. The 24-year-old sprinter also came very close to the world record, which stands at 3:43.13. However, even Nuguse ended his season with a silver medal at Eugene. The three athletes now look forward to a comeback to Eugene once again for the upcoming Olympic trials. While they are sure to make it to the Olympics team, will they be able to take the gold in Paris??

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