Retired American athletics sports champion, Michael Johnson, has found himself in hot waters after he questioned the accuracy of the clocks at the World Athletic Championships in Oregon, which saw a Nigerian sportswoman, Tobi Amusan, smash the 100m hurdles world record with a stunning semi-final time of 12.12 seconds.

“I don’t believe 100h times are correct,” the multi-Olympic gold medallist tweeted.

“World record broken by .08! 12 PBs set. Five National records set. And Cindy Sember quoted after her PB/NR “I thoroughly I was running slow!” All athletes looked shocked,” he continued.

The previous record of 12.20 was set in 2016 by American Kendra Harrison.
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The Nigerian, 25, ran even faster in the final – but her 12.06 was ruled ineligible by an illegal tailwind.

Online, some people are lambasting Johnson, with one tweeter calling him “bitter.”

Another person wrote: “Just because it’s not an American WR doesn’t mean the times were incorrect.”

Another tweeter did not mince their words: “Please just stop this US snobbish nonsense”.

However, there were also some tweets in support of Mr Johnson’s comments, including some who said they agreed, and another who posted: “Well said”.

Johnson has since responded to the online criticism, by saying his comments were simply part of his job.

“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.”
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