CEOs of World Athletics and USATF Called Out for ‘Biggest Scam’ by US Track Legend: “About Jazz, NASCAR…”

The track and field universe is filled with a multitude of distinguished athletes. Be it the greatest sprinter of all time, Usain Bolt, or 4x Olympics gold medalist, Michael Duane Johnson, the track and field world has a hoard full of champions who took the sport to great heights through their extraordinary speed. Nevertheless, while these athletes made it big on the field, they also got surrounded by several speculations about their vocation. For instance, the SSL scam, which robbed Bolt of around $12.7 million, and Johnson’s World Athletics Championships controversy last year, which made him a topic of severe accusations. However, keeping aside all the controversial agendas that major governing bodies usually highlight, Johnson recently voiced his concerns regarding a sport-related topic.

To voice his concerns about issues that need to be rectified in the track and field world, the man with golden shoes recently took his intrigue to Twitter. Not just that, the 55-year-old even pointed out the off-topic discussions that the stakeholders of World Athletics and USATF have during their podcasts.

Michael Johnson calls out major governing bodies for their off-track discussions

Recently, a University of Kentucky student and track and field social media commentator took to her Twitter handle and asked a rhetorical question. The sports enthusiast wrote, “what yall think the biggest scam in track and field is?”. 

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On this, the 8x World Champion replied, “That the CEO’s of both World Athletics and USATF likely are not reading all the answers on this thread”. Mentioning the off-topic discussions, the BBC host further added, “FYI they did a podcast last week. First 30 of 45 minutes was about jazz, NASCAR, and Max’s music exec career”. 

Nevertheless, agreeing with Johnson’s response, the University of Kentucky student replied and wrote, “How can our sport be serious about change if our higher ups don’t take time to hear us out and at least work to change some of these issues… there is surely a better use of time”. Clearly, amidst all the off-track controversies, Johnson is really looking forward to getting an answer to his intrigue.

The World Athletics Championships’ Controversy

In 2022, the World Athletics Championships were held in Oregon. Interestingly, Nigeria’s Toby Amusan set a world record in 100 meters hurdles after completing the race in 12.12 seconds. Following this, the champion took to his Twitter and penned, “I don’t believe 100h times are correct”. The Olympian further wrote, “Heat 2 we were first shown winning time of 12.53. Few seconds later shows 12.43. Rounding down by .01 is normal. .10 is not”.

Following this, many disregarded the athlete for calling out the final judgment. Netizens accused him of “discrediting her win”. Though the whole fiasco caused a lot of stir in the fraternity, Johnson called those accusations “unacceptable”. “As a commentator, my job is to comment…I was attacked, accused of racism, and of questioning the talent of an athlete I respect and predicted to win”, said the Olympian. The Man with golden shoes indeed raises his voice against what is unacceptable in terms of sport. 

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