The Olympics and the Ghost of Ben Johnson

There is a fair bit of angst up here in Canada over the Canadian performance in the Beijing Olympics. Going into this Olympics, the Canadians were hoping to place in the top 16 in the medal count standings, after a disappointing 19th place in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Thus far, the performance by Canadian athletes in the Games have been deemed disappointing. Most Canadians would prefer to point out that they will surely do better in the Winter Olympics to be held in Vancouver in 2010.

It is in this context that you begin to realize the brief burst of pride Canadians had when Ben Johnson beat Carl Lewis in the 100 meter race in the 1988 Seoul Games, setting a world record. Although this is far from a scientific poll and, based on my conversations with a few Canadians, it appears that Canadians are still smarting over this. One told me that he lost any interest in watching 100 meter races after that. Who can blame him ? It’s easy to cast a suspicious eye on the track and field world given how many people have been busted over the years (Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin, Maurice Greene, Andrew Pettigrew, Tim Montgomery etc). Look at Usain Bolt’s performance in the 100 meters finals on Saturday. I’m sure that it’s difficult for many track fans to look at that performance and not wonder if Bolt had any help, given how easily he broke the record and especially in how he coasted to the finish line. The fact that some may never have failed any drug tests is basically irrelevant today. Marion Jones is a case in point. She won 5 medals in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was deemed to be America’s “darling” with her winsome smile. Despite the company of a husband who failed a steroids test prior to the Syndey Games, she pointed out that she had never failed any drug tests. She emphatically denied for years having taken any performance enhancing drugs and even sued people who would dare to allege that she was on the juice. Yet, she was still busted as a result of the BALCO inquiry in the States. She finally came clean and admitted that she was had taken performance enhancing drugs during all those years.

Some have said that the fact that Ben Johnson got caught in 1988 has not deterred any track stars. Instead, they looked at the time he posted (9.79, which is still extremely competitive by today’s standards and would have been good enough for the silver in this year’s Olympics) and saw that as proof that steroids did work. They have just become more careful in how to use them and avoid detection.