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Fans rush to Michael Johnson's defense after he's accused of 'black racism' for questioning Tobi Amusan's world record

Johnson’s skepticism came to light as Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan set a world record in 100-meter hurdles semifinals with a time of 12.12 seconds

Four-time Olympic gold medallist and sprint icon Michael Johnson was accused of racism after he questioned the accuracy of some finishing times at the World Athletics Championships. Johnson’s skepticism came to light as Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan set a world record in the 100-meter hurdles semifinals with a time of 12.12 seconds at the event in Oregon on July 24. She had previously finished fourth at the Olympics last year and fourth at the world championships in 2019.

The backlash towards Johnson, 54, who won Olympic gold medals in the 200-meter, 400-meter, and 4x400-meter relays over the course of his career, came after the event’s semi-final when Amusan set a record of 12.12 seconds. The 25-year-old smashed the previous record by 0.08 seconds, leading her way into the finals.  Johnson was met with accusations that he was biased toward the Nigerian team when he tweeted about Amusan's performance. "I don’t believe 100h times are correct. World record broken by .08! 12 PBs set. 5 National records set. And Cindy Sember's quote after her PB/NR ‘I thoroughly I was running slow!’ All athletes looked shocked," he wrote. "Heat 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," he added.

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Johnson defends self

After getting bashed by people calling him racist, Johnson tweeted on Monday, July 25, saying, “The level of dumbassery coming across my feed right now is truly staggering!". He also wrote, "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.”

Fans, too, defend Johnson

Even though many slammed Johnson for his skepticism, there were others who came in support. A fan wrote, "MJ is right because I scratched my head a lot during these championships at the times that were being run. Also the amount of 'false starts' that were happening." Another fan said, "Tribalism makes people dumb. They are undermining your argument because they think you are against non-Americans and their supposed loyalty to one of them."

On the other hand, many felt the tweet was not racist. An individual wrote, "No wonder they call Twitter a cesspit. Not a hint of racism in Michael Johnson's comments - unless you want there to be. Or am I also a racist for disagreeing with you? Enjoy your life..." One more pointed out the same issue saying, "Nothing racist in what MJ said whatsoever. He is one the greatest athletes and was passing fair comment on a set of times that even surprised the participants."

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