Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson was atop the sporting world in 1988.
He was fresh off breaking his own 100m world record at the Olympics, capturing his first Olympic gold after taking first at the World Championships, World Indoor Championships, Goodwill Games and Commonwealth games within a 12-month span. There was no one faster than Johnson, named the winner of the 1986 Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada’s top athlete.
Just as fast as the Jamaican-born sprinter had gained worldwide fame, tabbed The Associated Press Athlete of the Year for 1987, the legacy of the man known as ‘Big Ben,’ came crashing down.
Johnson broke his own 100m record of 9.83 seconds with a 9.79 run on Sept. 24 at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea, becoming the first Canadian sprinter since Percy Williams in 1928 to win the 100 metres at the Olympics. It was a moment of pride for Canada, seeing a sprinter adorned in red and white win the Olympic dash. Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney congratulated Johnson over the phone after the win, “It’s a marvellous evening for Canada,” Mulroney said in the televised conversation.
Three days later, the Olympic Doping Control Center found that Johnson’s urine sample contained stanozolol and he was disqualified from the race.
He later admitted to having used steroids when he set his 1987 world record, which caused the IAAF to rescind that record as well. In a later inquiry, Johnson’s coach Charlie Francis said Johnson had been using steroids since 1982.
The News is looking back at notable events from Medicine Hat’s history leading up to the celebration of our 140th publishing year later this fall.
Because of the Olympic scandal, The Canadian Press named Johnson “Newsmaker of the Year” for 1988. Johnson was suspended two years as a result of the 1988 race. He attempted a comeback in 1991, racing at the Hamilton Indoor Games where he finished second in the 50 metres in 5.77 seconds.
He failed to qualify for the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo but made the Canadian Olympic team again in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain where he missed the 100m finals. In 1993 he won the 50m race in Grenoble, France, in 5.65 seconds, just 0.04 seconds shy of the world record. Johnson was again found guilty of doping, using excessive testosterone, and was subsequently banned for life by the IAAF.
In April of 1999, a Canadian adjudicator ruled there were “procedural errors” in Johnson’s lifetime ban and allowed him to appeal. He was allowed to run, with no competitors. On June 12, Johnson entered a track meet in Kitchener, Ont, and posted a time of 11 seconds. Later that year, he failed a drug test for the third time.
