"Sports Cheating Scandals: 5 Shocking Medals and Records"

Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson could have easily become one of the best track and field athletes in sports history and competed for titles and records with the legendary Usain Bolt. However, almost all of his brilliant achievements were annulled due to doping found in his tests at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. After serving his disqualification, Johnson returned to big-time sports in the hope of new victories, but made a fatal mistake due to which he was banished from the sport forever. Lenta.ru recalls the athlete’s scandalous biography, his brilliant victories and resounding failure.

“This world record will stand for 50 years, maybe 100,” Johnson proudly told reporters immediately after his brilliant victory in the 100m at the Seoul Games. In the end, the record lasted only 72 hours, although it was never broken – the result was simply annulled.

Johnson’s story serves as a cautionary tale in the world of sports, emphasizing the importance of integrity and fair play among athletes.

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From poverty to the top

Johnson, like the aforementioned Bolt, is a native of Jamaica. The athlete was born in late 1961 in the small town of Falmouth on the northern coast of the island. The family, which included three other children besides Ben, lived very poorly, none of the children were professional athletes, but Johnson’s life changed dramatically when he turned 15. The mother of the future athlete, in search of financial security, moved to friends in the Canadian province of Ontario, leaving her husband. She took all four children with her.

Canada’s Ben Johnson starts the sprint during training at York University in Toronto, Canada, 1987

Photo: Gray Mortimore/Allsport/Getty Images

In Canada, Johnson met Charlie Francis, a former sprinter who became a track and field coach after finishing his sports career. He saw potential in young Ben, which he did not reveal only through hard training: from a young age, the specialist hooked his student on steroids, but this became known only many years later.

In the early 1980s, Johnson made rapid progress. Illegal drugs helped turn a skinny young man into a muscular athlete who began to tear apart his rivals over short distances. Francis believed that it was impossible to succeed in sprinting without illegal drugs, since absolutely everyone uses them. Time will show that the coach was not so far from the truth.

You can either put concrete blocks behind the starting line and tie your feet to them, or you can compete with everyone else on equal terms

Charlie Francis

After graduating from high school, the talented athlete entered York University, successfully competed in national competitions, and was invited to the Canadian national team in 1982. A year later, Johnson debuted at the World Championships, but only finished sixth in the 100-meter final. The following season, he competed at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, which were almost home to him, where he won two bronze medals: in his signature 100-meter dash and in the 4×100-meter relay.

Rivalry with Lewis

The main star of that Olympics was American Carl Lewis. Johnson’s peer steamrolled his rivals in two individual sprint events – 100 and 200 meters, took gold in the 4×100 meter relay, and the cherry on his cake was a victory in the long jump. It is very difficult to imagine such versatility now. Johnson, for now, was content with two bronze medals, but in the following years he became a much more serious rival for Lewis.