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Biography
Youth and beginnings
Ben Johnson arrived in Canada at the age of 15, in Scarborough, Ontario, with his mother and five brothers. His father remains in Falmouth. He met York University coach Charlie Francis, former Canadian 100-meter champion, and joined the Scarborough Optimists club [ref. necessary].
He joined the Canadian team in 1980, which did not participate in the Moscow Olympics due to the boycott of the 1980 Olympics. He won his first international medal at the 1982 Commonwealth Games, where he finished second in the 100 meters in 10 s 05, between the Scots Allan Wells and Cameron Sharp, in a race with a strong favorable wind of 5.9 m / s [ref. necessary].
Sports career (1984 to 1988)
At the Los Angeles Games, Ben Johnson finished third in the 100 meters in 10 s 22 behind Carl Lewis and Sam Graddy. He won a second Olympic bronze medal with the Canadian relay composed of Tony Sharpe, Desai Williams and Sterling Hinds [ref. necessary].
He broke Desai Williams' Canadian record on August 22, 1984 at the meeting in Zürich, dropping it from 10:17 to 10:12 [ref. necessary].
He became world champion at the Worlds in Rome in 1987, beating Carl Lewis and setting a new world record in 9.83 s (Calvin Smith's previous record was in 9.93 s) 1.
He won the men's 100-meter final at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul in 9.79 seconds, ahead of his big rival Carl Lewis. But he was quickly found guilty of doping with stanozolol (an anabolic steroid), by means of analysis by gas chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (GC / MS / MS), which invalidated this new record of the world. This positive test will destroy his career and his reputation [ref. necessary].
Suspended for two years, he will never return to the highest level in the world. He will later claim to have been doped without his knowledge by a certain André Jackson, commissioned according to him by the “Lewis clan” 2.
Return to competition and coaching experience
Ben Johnson attempted a comeback in 1991. At the World Indoor Championships, he finished fourth in the 60 meters. He does not qualify for the 100m at the World Championships in Tokyo, but is part of the Canadian 4 × 100m team. With Mike Dwyer, Cyprian Enweani and Peter Ogilvie, they break the national record in the semi-finals. In the final, the quartet finished eighth in the race [ref. necessary].
In 1992, he only reached the semi-finals at the Barcelona Olympics. He was again recognized positive in Montreal in 1993. The IAAF then banned him for life1. The Canadian sports minister, Pierre Cadieux, then recommended that he return to his island3.
His record, invalidated, will be beaten in 2002 by Tim Montgomery in 9 78s at the Charléty stadium in Paris. However, it was later learned that this one was also doped and this record was also invalidated. It is finally Asafa Powell who will beat the world record in 9 s 77 on June 14, 2005 [ref. necessary].
In March 1993, he claims to have been the victim of a stunt at the Seoul Games [ref. necessary].
In 1994, he was briefly in charge of the training of Diego Maradona [ref. necessary].
In 1999, he was hired by the Libyan leader Muammar Khadafi as physical trainer for his son, Al-Saadi, who joined the Italian club Serie A Perugia. But he will only play one match, playing for 15 minutes against Juventus, the rest of the time being at best on the substitutes' bench before being in turn tested positive. As for Ben Johnson, he will be stolen, in a street of Rome, the suitcase containing his pay of physical trainer [ref. necessary].
Awards
Olympic Games
Los Angeles 1984 Summer Olympics (Flag of the United States of America)
Bronze medal Bronze medal over 100 m
Bronze medal Bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay
World Indoor Championships
1985 in Paris (Flag of France France)
Gold medal Gold medal over 60 m
