Retired American athletics sports champion, Michael Johnson, has found himself in hot water, 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. 5 National records set. And Cindy Sember quote 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.
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 Mr Johnson, with one tweeter calling him “bitter” .
Another person wrote: “Just because its 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”.
Mr 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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