Michael Johnson suffered the ignominy of being beaten by three British runners in a rare 200 metres outing at the Crystal Palace international athletics meeting yesterday. Veteran Doug Turner claimed an astonishing victory in 20.73 seconds as Johnson, who won the world 400 metres title in Athens earlier this month, trailed in a sad fifth in 20.87, over a second and a half down on his world record.
Briton Marcus Adam, who amazingly has beaten Johnson five times in his last nine races against the American, was second in 20.74 ahead of compatriot James Golding (20.80) and Latvian Sergei Insakov (20.85).
Johnson left the 9,000 fans feeling short-changed after being paid an estimated £60,000 in appearance money.
The dual Olympic champion also pulled out of the 4x400m relay and hurried away from the stadium in South London with his manager Brad Hunt without offering any explanation.
"He looked to me that his heart just wasn't in it," said Turner of the American. "I think he was just running for the money and to keep the people happy."
Winner Turner is still in the throws of a battle with the British authorities over a positive drugs test.
Turner was banned by the Scottish Games Association (SGA) for three months after testing positive for ephedrine at the annual professional meeting in Edinburgh over the New Year.
But he competed at the World Indoor Championships in Paris last March while still under that suspension because the SGA did not inform the British Athletic Federation of the ban.
Though there was defeat for one Olympic champion, the other on view - Canada's world record holder Donovan Bailey - recorded a comfortable victory in the 100 metres.
Bailey, who lost his world crown in Athens earlier this month and struggled in Zurich last Wednesday, won in 10.13 seconds from his team-mate Vince Henderson of the United States (10.22).
