American track legend, Michael Johnson has slammed accusations of ‘black racism’ directed at him after he questioned the timing and accuracy just after Nigerian sprinter Tobi Amusan smashed World Record in the Women’s 100m Hurdles event at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, United States.
American track legend, Michael Johnson has slammed accusations of ‘black racism’ directed at him after he questioned the timing and accuracy just after Nigerian sprinter Tobi Amusan smashed World Record in the Women’s 100m Hurdles event at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon, United States.
On Monday, July 25, Amusan won her semifinal heat when she crossed the finish line at a time of 12.12 seconds, smashing the previous best of 12.20sec set by American Kendra Harrison in 2016.
Michael Johnson, who won four Olympic gold medals and 8 World Championships gold medals in the span of his career, took to Twitter to doubt the timing.
He wrote: “I don’t believe 100h times are correct. World record broken by .08! 12 PBs set. 5 National records set. And Cindy Sember quote after her PB/NR “I throughly I was running slow!” All athletes looked shocked.”
“Heat 2 we were first shown winning time of 12.53. Few seconds later it shows 12.43. Rounding down by .01 is normal. .10 is not,” he added in another tweet.
The track legend was heavily critised as he was hit with a backlash over his opinion and choice of words, with some accussing him of ‘black racism.
He later took to his Twitter page to address the accusation, saying: ‘The level of dumbassery coming across my feed right now is truly staggering!
‘As a commentator my job is to comment. In questioning the times of 28 athletes (not 1 athlete) by wondering if the timing system malfunctioned.
‘I was attacked, accused of racism, and of questioning the talent of an athlete I respect and predicted to win. Unacceptable. I move on.’
