Tobi Amusan argued Johnson got worked up because the Women’s 100m Hurdles record is held by a black Nigerian girl and not an American
By Kehinde Okeowo
World record holder in Women’s 100m Hurdles and Nigerian hurdler, Tobi Amusan, has accused legendary sprinter, Michael Johnson, of bias over his comments after setting a new world record.
Amusan stunned the world, when she returned a time of 12.12 seconds in World Athletics Championships’ Women’s 100m Hurdles semi-final heat in the United States, smashing the world record in the process.
She had initially set the mark of 12.06 seconds which did not count for the record books because the wind speed was over the legal limit.
The World Athletics body later ratified Tobi Amusan’s 12.12 seconds record in the event, making her the official holder.
However, after her incredible feat, former American sprinter, Michael Johnson, made remarks shortly after she broke the record, expressing doubts about the timing.
He wrote: “I don’t believe 100h times are correct. World record broken by .08! 12 PBs set. 5 National records set.”
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A fellow hurdler and her challenger, Cindy Sember after her PB/NR also said “I thoroughly I was running slow!” All athletes looked shocked.”
Reacting to the comments, Tobi Amusan in a chat with Beat FM, expressed disappointment with Michael Johnson’s comments, insisting ‘records are meant to be broken.’
She said: “As much as I try not to answer this question, I’ll answer it this one time. At a point, I felt like you are an artiste.
“Things are meant to happen; records are meant to be broken. But the fact that he just had that much to say about me, says a lot about him.”
The Nigerian sprinter went on to slam the retired American, saying he and other critics had wanted someone else to achieve the feat.
“Because I’ve been on the circuit, he’s seen me run. I wouldn’t get mad at him because the person they expect to actually break the world record did not, so coming from a black girl from Nigeria just got them really worked up, so they got to deal with it.” Amusan added.
