Remembering Ben Johnson's Disgrace: 25th Anniversary of Epic 100m Race in Seoul

This picture right here says it all!!!

Yes that is the great Carl Lewis waaaay back in second... and the man metres ahead in blaring red is none other than the infamous Canadian Ben Johnson.
You all know the story, after euphoric Olympic glory... three days later it was all gone. Ben's world came crashing down as a routine drugs test came back positive for the steroid Stanozol. The name Ben Johnson suddenly became a pariah, no one wanted to touch with a 10ft pole.

September 24, 2013 marks 25 years since the 1988 Olympic 100m final in Seoul that shocked the world. Yet despite the subsequent disgrace so many track fans (outside of the U.S. of course) respected Ben for giving Carl Lewis the beating of his life, thus eradicating that well known smirk he was known for in those days. For many, Ben’s biggest mistake was he was caught! That 100m final in Seoul is considered the most corrupt sprint in modern Olympic history. It was later discovered that four of the top five finishers from the race have been tainted by a drug scandal.

So over the years Ben Johnson became known as the quintessential “fall guy”. In fact, where I’m from any day of the week (usually a Thursday) when food or money is short for dinner, people tend to call it the “Ben Johnson Day”. Which really means “Hard Luck Day”. After all’s been said and done, no one can argue that what Ben did was wrong, there’s always a price to pay for one’s actions.

Ben himself agrees and is now part of an international anti-doping campaign called "Choose the Right Track," run by an Australian sports apparels company, Skins. He even returned to the scene of the infamous race in Seoul. Given how much he’s endured over the years while others... not so much, we can understand Ben’s evident feelings of resentment/bitterness. However it’s hoped the #chooseTheRightTrack campaign can offer the disgraced sprinter a rare moment of redemption.

With all the doping scandals that's rocked the sport this year, perhaps the campaign slogan slogan should be "SPRINTERS TAKE NOTE"...Of course I jest.

2013: IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP HIGHLIGHTS: BOLT, FRASER PRYCE AND FARAH

The curtain has closed on this year's world championships but if you're a track and field fan like me you're probably still savouring the tremendous display of talent put on by the world's finest athletes.

For me, this was a championship of 3's at least in the sprints, as both Usain Bolt and his compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce captured gold medals in all three sprint races.

Let's start off with Usain. Pundits predicted the Moscow championships would be a one-man and show and boy were they right. Beginning with the 100m, despite not having the best of starts, Bolt made quick work of the field winning in a time of 9.77 sec. USA's Justin Gatlin ran hard for second in 9.85 and Jamaica's Nesta Carter earned his first individual bronze medal in a time of 9.95

The 200m was no different. Even before the race, I don't think anyone ever doubted that Bolt would be the winner. His long strides attacked the corner with ferocity, putting him in complete command of the race by the 50m mark, allowing him plenty of room to ease up at the line in a time of 19.66 sec.  No disrespect to the other competitors but I think most of us were really just trying to figure out who would nab the other medals. My bet was on Bolt's team mate and last year's Olympic Bronze medallist Warren Weir for 2nd, but I figured the bronze was wide open. As predicted Weir ran the race of his life, blazing the last 40m for silver in a personal best of 19.79 and American Curtis Mitchell grabbed 3rd spot.

Finally in the 4x100m the stage was already set for yet another gold. A brilliant 3rd leg by America's  Rakieem Salaam actually had the USA leading Jamaica but that final exchange was nothing short of DISASTROUS (not that it would have mattered in the end) but hard to watch Salaam and Gatlin fumbling with the baton while as Jamaica executed a superior exchange...after that, the race over. Gatlin and the US team were left a distant second as Bolt powered to the line in 37.36. Well off world record pace, but a fine race nonetheless. 

The win handed Jamaica Its 3rd consecutive win in this event at a major championship and permanently secured Bolt’s legend status. The proud Jamaican leaves the Moscow with eight world titles overall, equalling world gold records held by US track star Carl Lewis and Allyson Felix. In any other year 9.77 and 19.66 would have been regarded as simply mind boggling but the coming of the Bolt era has relegated these times to just "good". It is the mark of a man who’s truly changed the landscape of the sport.

The women were not to be outdone.The diminutive Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce matched Bolt's success medal for medal.

Starting with the 100m the Jamaica's superwoman exploded from the blocks, crossing the line in 10.71, leaving everyone else WAY behind. Murielle Ahoure from the Ivory Coast was closest, getting the silver 10.93 and defending champion Carmelita Jeter picking up the bronze.

But while the 100m was almost a given, the 200m was never a foregone conclusion. No one would ever want to play down the remarkable abilities of Olympic champion Allyson Felix.  Track pundits were salivating for a showdown between the two in the final but alas it was not to be... regretfully Felix pulled up with a torn hamstring and you know the rest from there. Shelly-Ann won in 22.17 and Ahoure (also second in the 100m) pipped Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare at the line for 2nd. Had Felix been uninjured, I think we would have been able to really see what Shelly could do in the 200m...perhaps a sub 22? Nevertheless still an awesome race to watch. This event handed Fraser Pryce the rare sprint-double title, making her the 3rd woman in history to do so ( see what I mean about a theme of 3’s)

The 4x100m must have been like the icing on the cake, Fraser Pryce anchored the Jamaican quartet to an astounding victory in a championship record of 41.29 . I don't think I've ever seen such a margin of victory...quite astounding really. France did well for silver while defending champions USA suffering from the absence of Felix and Jeter fought hard for 3rd.

Now that we are done with the Triple triumphs in the sprints it's time to show some appreciation for the historic double-double in the long distances. Yes I'm talking about the immortal races of Great Britain's Mo Farah, who to the world's amazement claimed both the 10,000m and 5000m... repeating his unbelievable success at last year's Olympics. Whereas the thrill of the sprints is undoubtedly captivating, the  perseverance of long distance runners brings another level of awe.

Farah took 10,000 gold on the opening night of the championships, with a supreme final lap then came back 6 days later to claim the 5000m. I think the longer distance was almost a certainty but you never know in the 5000m. 

Farah ran a strategic race from the get go, producing a lung-bursting kick in the final lap to hold off the fast finishing Kenyans. Farah crossed the line in 13min 26.98sec.

Whatever the US lacked in the flat sprints,they made up for it in the hurdles...capturing both men 110m and women’s 100m hurdles titles. After years of injuries and rhythm struggles David Oliver overcame it all to claim the obstacle event in a commendable 13.00.

But it was the women’s equivalent that literally had me at the edge of my seat. To say defending world champion and Olympic Champion Sally Pearson was having a HORRID year, would be the understatement of the century. Two hamstring injuries and a late start to the season had the hurdles queen looking a far cry from the glory of the past two years. 

The look in Pearson’s eyes just before the start of the race pretty much told the story of how difficult its been. Concern obvious in her eyes and body language as focused for the race. Meanwhile to her left the youthful Brianna Rollins was poised and confident as ever. Despite all this, at the sound of the gun Pearson took off like a bullet! For a split second I thought it was all over for Rollins...That's until I saw her finishing like a freight train.  Hurdle for hurdle that girl was like flipping INSANE. Rollins caught the Australian by the 8th hurdle and blazed past Pearson in a time of 12.44sec. How she got over that horrific start and still managed to win is beyond me. Pearson has vowed it will be her final defeat in this event but I don’t know folks, Miss Rollins looks like she’s NOT going anywhere any time soon.

While the track was on fire, the field events was tantalizing. France’s Teddy Tamgho wowed the crowd with a spectacular leap of 18,04m to claim Triple Jump gold. 

 In an extraordinary final Tamgho edged Pedro Pichardo of Cuba and Will Claye of the United States becoming the  third man to clear the magical 18 meter mark in the triple jump.

There were so many awesome races and great talent that I just cannot list them all. The above merely my highlights. However please join me in giving heartiest commendations to those below:

Murielle Ahoure of the Ivory Coast and Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare give the African continent its first ever medals in a women's world 200 metres final on Friday

Christine Ohuruogu -- GB's iron lady--wins 400m by the narrowest of margins, smashing the 28-yr-old British record in the event,

LaShawn Merritt Reclaims mens 400m title for the USA

Russia's Aleksandr Menkov: leaps 8.56 meters for Long Jump gold

Javon Francis anchors Jamaica's 4x400m relay team with an impressive/unbelievable lap dragging Jamaica to an otherwise unlikely silver.

Finally a huge shout out to every single athlete that competed whether you won a medal or not. Can't leave without bigging up Canada for their historic performance. Just when I thought Canada wasn't making any headway in the sport, the country came through with a tally of 5 medals, the best ever for the team

CANADIAN TRAINER AT THE HEART OF DOPING SCANDAL SPEAKS OUT

The story on Asafa Powell and Sherone Simpson’s failed drug test just keeps on giving. At last check, the former 100-metre world-record holder and his teammate were formally placed under criminal investigation for allegedly violating Italy's doping laws.

This after Italian police confiscated unidentified substances in a raid on the hotel where they were staying in the northeastern town of Lignano Sabbiadoro. Not surprisingly Powell and Simpson’s agent Paul Doyle has since come out in vigorous defence of his athletes. Telling the Associated...

"We're not trying to throw Chris under the bus and blame him for anything. We know it has to be something in the supplements he gave them. We're not saying he did anything deliberate, but it's in those supplements. We need to figure out what it was that caused this and from there move forward."

Well naturally , Christopher Xuereb hasn't taken too kindly to these words and has made statements of his own in an email to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Here are a few excerpts you’ll find interesting:

“I worked extremely hard to help Asafa Powell and Sheron Simpson with their injuries. Most importantly, I did not provide any banned or illegal substances to Asafa Powell or Sherone Simpson. While I did recommend vitamins, all vitamins recommended by me were all purchased over the counter at reputable Nutritional stores and were major brands; Metagenics, SISU, AOR, Epiphany. I was instructed by the agent and athletes to buy these vitamins. All vitamins recommended by me were shown to the MVP club coach Stephen Francis.”

“Both athletes are clearly looking for a scapegoat,  I am confident that I have done nothing wrong”

“ I am extremely disappointed that these athletes have chosen to blame me for their own violations.  WADA and the public needs to stop accepting these stories and hold these athletes accountable.”

Folks, evidently this is turning into a war of words. Already we are grappling with a “he said - he said” story, but I leave it to you to draw your own conclusions. The reaction in the track community has been mixed, several believing in a conspiracy theory, while others are calling for a permanent ban. As an observer there seems to be a very fine line between vitamins and supplements with a lot of room for mistakes/things to happen. I will continue to wait for the full details but I must say this is all VERY interesting.

In the meantime, police were still analyzing the substances seized to determine if they were legal or not. Being formally placed under investigation is a step up in the Italian justice system from someone simply "informed of the facts," which is how someone can be questioned by police.

TOP SPRINTERS FAIL DRUG TESTS: GAY, POWELL AND SIMPSON

Once bitter rivals on the track American Tyson Gay and Jamaica’s Asafa Powell now have something in common and I'm not talking about all the medals. Yes you've heard the devastating news that these illustrious Olympic sprinters have both failed their drug tests.

30 year old Gay the 2nd fastest man over the 100m ever, failed an out-of-competition test on May 16. While Powell, the all-time fourth quickest over the distance, was reportedly found to have a stimulant called Oxilofrine in his system at June's Jamaican Championships.

And let’s not forget three-time Olympic medallist Sherone Simpson who has also tested positive for a banned substance. 

Without casting any aspersions on anyone, I think at this juncture I can say “What the hell heck is going on ?” As if Veronica Campbell Brown's case wasn't bad enough, Now this!!!

As a long time supporter of the sport, I cannot tell you how difficult it was for me to walk into the newsroom this morning. The scandal is one of our top sport stories today and My fellow colleagues did not hesitate to point out these latest doping violations. You see, since that fateful day in Beijing when Usain Bolt shocked the world with a record of 9.69 sec, I have been fielding questions like: Surely he’s on drugs? Come on, all of them dope right? etc...you get the drift.

READY, SET, GO: USA AND JAMAICA TRIALS BEGIN TODAY

Ok, track fans today is D-Day for all Jamaican and USA athletes. Be prepared to to have your eyes glued to tv and computer screens over the next four days as we drool watch and analyze the all the action. This is what those hard days of training and grueling gym work is for. Senior trials for both countries run Thursday, June 20 through to Sunday, June 23.

USA athletes hoping to make the cut are gathering at the Drake Stadium Des Moines, Iowa. Eyes will certainly be on sprint veterans Tyson Gay,  Justin Gatlin, Carmelita Jeter and Allyson Felix.

 I am really excited to see young hurdler Brianna Rollins in the women's 100m hurdles. You will remember her from that astounding run of 12.39 seconds at the NCAA. But you gotta know Olympians Dawn Harper-Nelson (12.60), Queen Harrison (12.64), hometown girl Lolo Jones (12.70) and Kellie Wells (12.73) will be bringing their A game to get on that team.

VERONICA CAMPBELL BROWN PROVISIONALLY SUSPENDED

You should all know by now that Jamaican Sprint Queen Veronica Campbell will not be participating in this weekend's National Trials. A statement on the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association's website  reads...

"She has been provisionally suspended from competition awaiting the outcome of a disciplinary panel that will be empanelled to hear this case. 

We also wish to point out that Mrs. Veronica Campbell Brown voluntarily withdrew herself from competition and accepted the provisional suspension" 

Veronica Campbell Brown fails Doping Test

Veronica Campbell Brown

ack and field community has been rocked by reports Jamaica's track star Veronica Campbell-Brown has tested positive for a banned substance. In fact I myself am having tremendous difficulty writing this. It would be one of the biggest doping violations to hit the sport in recent history.

According to the Jamaica Gleaner, Campbell-Brown's A sample tested positive for a diuretic, which acts as a masking agent, at the Jamaica Invitational meet on May 4.