Athletics: Jackson bids farewell with a loss and a smile

The crowd at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena produced a curious sound towards the end of yesterday's action. It was a sigh of disappointment, almost mournful in tone, as they witnessed the conclusion of the men's 60 metres hurdles, which marked the final seven seconds of action in Colin Jackson's 18-year-old career.

The 36-year-old who has won every major title except the Olympic one, finished with his characteristic straining lean, but on this occasion the Welshman was no more than a figure in the middle of the action as, ahead of him, America's former Olympic champion Allen Johnson took the gold in 7.47sec ahead of the current Olympic champion Anier Garcia and China's Liu Xiang.

As he set off on his final lap of honour, waving to the crowd with a wry smile on his face, Jackson was already coming to terms with his new job description as an ex-athlete, although full realisation will clearly take some time.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet that I just retired,'' said Jackson, whose final career statistic read: fifth place in 7.61sec. "I will have to cool down and wake up tomorrow morning starting a whole new life.''

That life will entail a spell working with the BBC commentary team at this summer's World Championships in Paris, and it will also entail completing his biography and another planned book on nutrition. Beyond that, Jackson remains open-minded about his future direction although he seems adamant it will not lead back to athletics.

Asked if yesterday's race had seemed in any way different to him, the man who has produced more giggles in mixed zones than any other international athlete fell momentarily silent before responding: "If anything, I was sad about the crowd. That was the most different, because when you hear the crowd you feel like you are loved and that's a special feeling.

"It was a bit difficult with the crowd today because they are all shouting for you and when you are trying to focus that is the most distracting thing you could ever have, but I know that it wasn't intentional.

"I already put some champagne in the fridge. It was to celebrate 18 years of incredible memories regardless of what the result was today.

"Physically I could have gone on for another summer but as you get a little bit older everything gets a little bit more risky and I didn't want the end of my career to be spoiled by a hamstring or an Achilles injury which would have left a sour taste.

"I did a photo-shoot earlier this week where I was surrounded by all my medals and when I actually saw them together I thought to myself: 'Oh. Right.' You win them one by one over the years but when you put them together, and you think that one medal can sometimes represent a whole year, you start to realise what it means.''

Johnson, whose successful record against Jackson has caused the Welshman to refer to him as "my voodoo man'', was eloquent in praise of an athlete whose total of major international medals stands now and for all time at 25. "He's a true gentleman and a great champion,'' Johnson said. "He's unmatched.''