OSAKA: Legendary American sprinter Michael Johnson says Asafa Powell gave up in the world 100 metres final, labelling the Jamaican a great talent but not a great competitor.
In contrast, Johnson called gold medal winner Tyson Gay "the Carl Lewis of his day". Gay and Derrick Atkins both surged past Powell with the world record holder relegated to third.
"Asafa Powell is a great talent but he's not a great competitor, you can see it in his eyes. He can learn to be a great competitor, but first you have to admit that you're not, said Johnson, who holds the 400m and 200m world records.
"As a competitor, even though it looks like it may be over, you don't give up until it's completely done and I've never seen a world record holder drop his head and give up in a major final.
"That should have been a silver he won, but he didn't, he got a bronze."
Johnson, a nine-time world champion and five-time Olympic champion, told the BBC that Powell must learn from the loss.
"He and Gay got out of the blocks together but Powell has that incredible transition out of his start, which is very powerful and explosive, and into his running and he was able to drive away," he said.
"But after the drive phase you could see him thinking, 'I'm losing it, I'm losing it,' and he just gave up at that point. That's what was really disappointing. He just dropped his head."
