Famous Cheat of the Week: Ben Johnson

There have been many famous cheats throughout history from dodgy sportsmen to bent politicians, from straying lovers to nimble-fingered card sharks. Each week we’re going to take a look at one of these individuals that have highlighted the propensity for human beings to do all they can to get ahead regardless of the rules, and look at what they did and why.

This week: Ben Johnson

If US gambling laws and Bet365 permitted it I’d bet that when it comes to a famous cheat there will be few to rival the ignominious figure of Ben Johnson the Canadian sprinter whose appearance at the Seoul Olympics back in 1988 was to go down in the annals of infamy.

The build-up began long before arrival in South Korea, the media having stoked up a rivalry between Johnson and the American Carl Lewis, and it was a rivalry that Johnson was winning. Going into the World Championships in 1987 Johnson had beaten Lewis in their four most recent encounters, and in Rome Johnson crushed Lewis breaking the World Record in 9.83 seconds.

This was a whole tenth faster than the record set by Calvin Smith, and instantly propelled the Canadian to fame and indeed fortune, he was earning nearly half a million dollars a month in endorsements alone after his victory in Rome, but there were already rumbles about how he did it, especially from Lewis.

“There are a lot of people coming out of nowhere. I don’t think they are doing it without drugs….” Said Lewis, having already blamed his loss on both a non-existent false start by Johnson and then a stomach bug that “weakened” him.

However his subsequent calls for the sport to be cleaned up were pretty much ignored as being sour grapes, being something Lewis had only mentioned after he’d started losing, with many muttering about his arrogance. Little did they know at the time he was being beaten by the most famous cheat ever, who was himself gambling news coverage wouldn’t favor the slightly larger than life Lewis.

Famous Cheat Loses Medal After Final

The 1988 Olympic 100m final had a lot of attention, especially because Johnson had not lost to Lewis since the World Championships, and all eyes were on the pair when the gun went off. It didn’t last long. Johnson’s victory in 9.79 seconds was sensational. Humbling Lewis AND lowering his own World Record. It was an amazing race, Ben Johnson had won the first 100m gold for Canada since Percy Williams in 1928.

Finally he was caught (Photo: mirror.co.uk)

But it was all a sham. Johnson’s blood and urine samples were found to contain Stanozolol. He admitted his guilt and three days after winning a gold medal, Ben Johnson became the famous cheat we know him as today. He was disqualified from the games, and his World Record nullified.

The sports world was horrified, his disgrace was total, his fellow Canadians appalled. The world looked upon Ben Johnson and despaired at his tainting of the Olympic spirit, and Carl Lewis was vindicated. At least, at the time. You don’t have to bet on sports in the US to know the IAAF is still mired in drug controversy.

Johnson and his coach, Charlie Francis, made quite a few excuses. Mostly these centered around the old-chestnut that everyone else was doing it, although Johnson did stray into accusations that someone had spiked him at one point, and whilst that sounds just the sort of thing a cheat would say when caught, as time has passed, the “everyone was doing it” line has started to sound awfully plausible.

Famous Cheat By No Means Alone In Sports

Twenty five years on and an IOC official admitted 80% of track and field athletes showed signs of long term steroid use, and in 1988 20 other athletes tested positive but were cleared anyway, something perhaps explained by NBC threatening to stop a rights payment saying “If these games collapse in scandal, we’re out, and that money’s gone.” Well, well…..plausible indeed.

Ben Johnson himself never really came back from his deserved disgrace (he did get caught after all), doing odd things for odd people, at one time training Gaddafi’s son in Libya, trying to launch a clothing line or advertising an energy drink. Finally he attempting to get back into running but failed a drug test he himself had arranged. That says it all.

Ironically when adrift after his disgrace he had even briefly helped to train another famous cheat; Diego Maradona, and we’ll look at him next week.