Michael Johnson has warned the Great Britain athletes not to rely on home advantage to make them successful at the London Olympics later this month.
A number of British athletes have spoken recently of the boost that they expect to receive from having the watching crowd cheer them on.
However, having competed in front of home fans during the 1996 Games in Atlanta, four-time Olympic champion Johnson has insisted that it is important for athletes to concentrate on their event, rather than the crowd's impact.
"Any athlete who is saying that they have an advantage when they go into the stadium to compete because the crowd is behind them is probably not focused on the competition," he told the London Evening Standard. "You can hear the crowd but you are not listening. You have to be focused on what you are about to do - you are not a spectator.
"So you have no element of spectator advantage. If you are part of the media and you are in stands, then you are thinking about what is going on and you are taking it all in, you have to. As an athlete, if you are taking in any of that then you are probably not going to perform very well.
"British athletes should not take it in at all. You have to be focused on what you are going to do. You cannot be stood there going, 'wow this is cool'."
Johnson will work as pundit for the BBC at the Games in the English capital.
Liam Apicella
