Michael Johnson has been accused of ‘black racism’ after questioning Nigerian athlete Tobi Amusan’s time when she obliterated the 100m hurdles world record – as a huge number of athletes set personal bests at the World Championships
- Michael Johnson has been accused of racism after questioning a world record
- He thinks too many records have been broken, suggesting problems with the clock
- Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan breaks Kendra Harrison’s 2016 100m hurdles time.
- Amusan beat the previous record by 0.08 seconds at the World Athletics Championships
- Johnson indicated that he questioned the times of other runners besides Amusan
By Kate McGreevy for Dailymail.Com
Posted: 16:12, July 25, 2022 | Updated: 17:00, 25 July 2022
Track and field legend Michael Johnson has been accused of “black racism” after questioning whether Nigerian sprinter Tobi Amusan’s world record was valid.
The 100m hurdler broke Kendra Harrison’s 2016 world record by 0.08 seconds at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon on Sunday.
BBC pundit Johnson, who won four Olympic gold medals and eight World Championship gold medals in a stellar track career, was skeptical of the times set by Amusan and others.
“I don’t believe 100h times are correct. World record improved by .08! Set of 12 PB. 5 national records set. And a quote from Cindy Sember after her PB/NR “I was really slow!” All the athletes looked shocked [sic].
“In Series 2 we were first shown a winning time of 12.53. A few seconds later it shows 12.43. Rounding down by .01 is normal. .10 is not.’
Amusan became world champion with an even faster time later in the day at Hayward Field, but the time did not count towards the records due to a strong headwind.
Johnson has been accused of racism for questioning the accuracy of Amusan’s world record of 12.12 seconds.
Michael Johnson has questioned the validity of Nigerian athlete Tobi Amusan’s world record
The BBC pundit and former athletics star has been accused of “black racism” on social media
Amusan destroyed Kendra Harrison’s 2016 world record by 0.08 seconds at the World Athletics Championships in Oregon
A Twitter user responded to Johnson’s comments, writing: “Michael Johnson are you naturally this dumb or do you have to work hard?
“Why don’t you focus your energy on recovering from your stroke you black racist!
“Toby Amusan is a world record holder and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Another said: “Just because it’s not an American WR doesn’t mean the times were wrong,” while one added: “Did you question the record when an American broke the record?”
BBC pundit Johnson was skeptical about the times reported by Amusan and other athletes
Johnson called the backlash he received “unacceptable” and pointed out that he wasn’t just questioning Amusan’s timing
Johnson called the backlash he received “unacceptable” and pointed out that he wasn’t just questioning Amusan’s timing.
He later wrote on his Twitter account: “The level of crap going on in my feed right now is truly staggering!
“As a commentator, my job is to comment. When questioning the times of 28 athletes (not 1 athlete), wondering if the timing system was malfunctioning.
“I was attacked, accused of racism and doubting the talent of an athlete whom I respected and predicted would win. unacceptable. I’m moving on.
Johnson won four Olympic gold medals and eight world championship gold medals in a stellar track career
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