{"id":233854,"date":"2026-03-18T11:24:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/top-bbc-pundit-axed-as-23-year-agreement-comes-to-an-end-after-bankruptcy\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T11:24:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T11:24:39","slug":"top-bbc-pundit-axed-as-23-year-agreement-comes-to-an-end-after-bankruptcy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/top-bbc-pundit-axed-as-23-year-agreement-comes-to-an-end-after-bankruptcy\/","title":{"rendered":"Top BBC pundit axed as 23-year agreement comes to an end after bankruptcy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<h2 class=\"LeadText_lead-text__wd_PA __className_a12813\" data-testid=\"leadtext\">One of the BBC&#8217;s most popular track and field pundits has reportedly been informed he won&#8217;t feature on the broadcaster&#8217;s programming in 2026<\/h2>\n<p><button class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX ImageEmbed_image-lead__Ti3qQ\" data-testid=\"leadimage\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36886347\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Olympic legend Michael Johnson will not feature on the BBC's athletics coverage in 2026\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Olympic legend Michael Johnson will not feature on the BBC&#8217;s athletics coverage in 2026<cite aria-label=\"Image: Matthew Lewis, Getty Images for Laureus\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Matthew Lewis, Getty Images for Laureus)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Sprint legend <a aria-label=\"Michael JohnsonLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/michael-johnson\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Johnson<\/a> will be <a aria-label=\"absent from the BBC&#039;s athletics coverageLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/sport\/othersport\/2183545\/bbc-fire-athletics-michael-johnson\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">absent from the BBC&#8217;s athletics coverage<\/a> in 2026. This follows the collapse of the American&#8217;s Grand Slam Track (GST) competition in December, which left both athletes and investors significantly out of pocket.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Four-time Olympic gold medallist Johnson launched his track and field league ahead of the 2025 season. The venture aimed to unite the <a aria-label=\"sport&#039;sLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/sport\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">sport&#8217;s<\/a> biggest names more regularly, promising substantial prize money in innovative formats designed to propel athletics into a new era.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">However, those ambitions crumbled when Johnson&#8217;s brainchild <a aria-label=\"filed for voluntary bankruptcyLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/other-sports\/athletics\/michael-johnson-bankrupt-gst-athletics-36390089\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">filed for voluntary bankruptcy<\/a> at the back end of 2025. Grand Slam Track has indicated it still intends to host events in 2026, once its financial troubles have been sorted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Meanwhile, <a aria-label=\"BBC SportLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/bbc-sport\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">BBC Sport<\/a> has confirmed the broadcaster has suspended its working relationship. The report cites sources suggesting there are no plans for Johnson to feature on <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/bbc\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">BBC<\/a> programming in 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\"><em>JOIN US ON FACEBOOK! <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/mirrorfootball\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">Latest news, analysis and much more on Mirror Football&#8217;s Facebook page<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The eight-time <a aria-label=\"\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/news\/world-news\/\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"\">world<\/a> champion began working for the BBC in 2001 shortly after hanging up his spikes. He&#8217;s become a firm favourite among British audiences over more than two decades with the broadcaster but hasn&#8217;t graced BBC screens since the Paris 2024 Olympics.<\/p>\n<p><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_44230e\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36862308\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/other-sports\/athletics\/bbc-michael-johnson-grand-slam-36862308\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Olympic legend Michael Johnson issues BBC future statement amid \u00a3376k fraud allegation<\/a><\/span><\/span><span data-testid=\"readmore\" class=\"ReadMore_readmore-prefix__xS44r __className_44230e\">READ MORE<!-- -->: <span class=\"ReadMore_readmore-link__eF9pN\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36390089\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/other-sports\/athletics\/michael-johnson-bankrupt-gst-athletics-36390089\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Michael Johnson&#8217;s shocking losses emerge as bankruptcy filed with debts of up to \u00a337m<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">According to a review published by the Association of Athletics Managers in January 2026, GST had debts of more than \u00a322.5million at the time. Scotland&#8217;s <a aria-label=\"Josh KerrLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/josh-kerr\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Josh Kerr<\/a>, who won Olympic silver in the 1,500 metres at Paris 2024, is <a aria-label=\"understood to be owed \u00a3123,000Link opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/other-sports\/athletics\/josh-kerr-philadelphia-grand-slam-35324691\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">understood to be owed \u00a3123,000<\/a>, according to documents filed with a bankruptcy court for the US district of Delaware.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;Of course I&#8217;m frustrated,&#8221; he told BBC Sport. &#8220;I&#8217;m owed a lot of money, so in any business anyone&#8217;s going to be frustrated. I don&#8217;t particularly know right now where to push those frustrations and where they should sit.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">However, he declined to place blame solely on Johnson, adding: &#8220;I&#8217;ve had conversations with Michael, I&#8217;ve had information given to me by my agents on this stuff. I don&#8217;t think these are bad people. I think this is a horrible situation.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">In an unselfish move, Kerr instead directed his concerns towards those in less secure positions. And his words acknowledge the precarious nature affecting those less prominent athletes who are depending more heavily on prize money and sponsorships for their livelihoods.<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"image-group\"><button class=\"SlideViewerButton_slide-viewer-button__BDJoG\" aria-label=\"Open image viewer\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-controls=\"image-lightbox\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-embed__0T8WX false\" data-testid=\"imageembed-36886346\" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"36886346\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"image\">\n<div class=\"ImageEmbed_image-container__2AIQm\">\n<figure class=\"Figure_figure__Uce4f\" style=\"--figure-aspect-ratio:1.5\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Michael Johnson at Grand Slam Track - Philadelphia\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 458px, (max-width: 615px) 615px, 1200px\" src=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36886346.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_Michael-Johnson-at-Grand-Slam-Track-Philadelphia.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36886346.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s458b\/0_Michael-Johnson-at-Grand-Slam-Track-Philadelphia.jpg 458w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36886346.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s615b\/0_Michael-Johnson-at-Grand-Slam-Track-Philadelphia.jpg 615w, https:\/\/i2-prod.mirror.co.uk\/article36886346.ece\/ALTERNATES\/s1200e\/0_Michael-Johnson-at-Grand-Slam-Track-Philadelphia.jpg 1200w\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"ImageCaption_caption__j7HRu\" data-testid=\"image-caption\">\n<p aria-label=\"Johnson's Grand Slam Track owes millions owed to debtors\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-title__ccyQU\" data-testid=\"caption-title\">Johnson&#8217;s Grand Slam Track owes millions owed to debtors<cite aria-label=\"Image: Getty\" class=\"ImageCaption_caption-credit__wlx1W\" data-testid=\"caption-credit\">(Image: Getty)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<p><\/button><\/div>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">&#8220;I&#8217;m not super worried about myself,&#8221; he added. &#8220;I&#8217;m worried about some of the other athletes, and they had their stories exposed of working jobs and not being sponsored, and then they had this life-changing money. That&#8217;s what I care about.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Amid the uncertainty over GST&#8217;s financial situation, Johnson was recently accused of receiving a \u00a3375,000 payment from the company prior to its final event. This was supposedly at a point when he allegedly knew athletes wouldn&#8217;t be paid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Nevertheless, GST has denied the claims and emphasised <a aria-label=\"Johnson continued to pump millions of his own fundsLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/other-sports\/athletics\/bbc-michael-johnson-grand-slam-36862308\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Johnson continued to pump millions of his own funds<\/a> into keeping the venture afloat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Alongside Kerr, former European 400-metre champion Matthew Hudson-Smith is reported to be owed \u00a3107,500 for his involvement in GST&#8217;s first season. Additionally, Olympic silver medallist relay sprinter Daryll Neita is understood to be owed \u00a321,000, while former 200m world champion <a aria-label=\"Dina Asher-SmithLink opens in a new tab.\" class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/all-about\/dina-asher-smith\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\">Dina Asher-Smith<\/a> is yet to receive \u00a317,850 in prize money.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/other-sports\/athletics\/bbc-athletics-michael-johnson-fired-36886348\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the BBC&#8217;s most popular track and field pundits has reportedly been informed he won&#8217;t feature on the broadcaster&#8217;s programming in 2026 Olympic legend Michael Johnson will not feature on the BBC&#8217;s athletics coverage in 2026(Image: Matthew Lewis, Getty Images for Laureus) Sprint legend Michael Johnson will be absent from the BBC&#8217;s athletics coverage [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":233855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6802],"tags":[8388,25205,57664,9010,57655],"class_list":{"0":"post-233854","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-athetics","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-bbc-sport","10":"tag-michael-johnson","11":"tag-olympic-games","12":"tag-uk-athletics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}