Burrell Defeats Christie in England, Then Nearly Comes to Blows With Him

World record-holder Leroy Burrell of the United States rallied to beat countryman Mark Witherspoon and Britain’s Linford Christie at 60 meters Sunday, then got involved in an angry postrace clash with Christie.

Burrell, who set the world record of 6.48 seconds at Madrid on Wednesday, won Sunday’s race in 6.56.

Burrell said Christie was angry because Burrell turned his head to look at him during the race. As they walked off the track, they exchanged angry words.

“He threatened me,” Burrell said. “He said: ‘If you do what you did again, I will hurt you, I will kill you.’ ”

Burrell then said to Christie: “Then kill me now.”

The two then were separated by meet promoter Andy Norman, who led Christie away.

“I overreacted during the race, and I probably shouldn’t have done it,” Burrell said. “A lot of this was due to the hype before the race.”

At the awards ceremony, the two sprinters shook hands.