Ben Johnson (Canadian sprinter) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Ben Johnson

Johnson in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Benjamin Sinclair Johnson, Jr.
Born	(1961-12-30) December 30, 1961 (age 62) Falmouth, Trelawny Parish, Jamaica
Weight	75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
Country	Canada
Event(s)	60m, 100m, 200m
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	30 m: 4.40 (2006) 50 m: 5.69 (1984) 55 m: 6.05 (1986) 60 m: 6.50 (1986) 100 m: 9.95 (1986) 200 m: 20.41 (1985)
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Canada Olympic Games Bronze 1984 Los Angeles 100 m Bronze 1984 Los Angeles 4x100 m relay Disqualified 1988 Seoul 100 m World Championships Disqualified 1987 Rome 100 m World Indoor Championships Gold 1985 Paris 60 m Disqualified 1987 Indianapolis 60 m Goodwill Games Gold 1986 Moscow 100 m Commonwealth Games Gold 1986 Edinburgh 100 m Gold 1986 Edinburgh 4x100 m relay Silver 1982 Brisbane 100 m Silver 1982 Brisbane 4x100 m relay Bronze 1986 Edinburgh 200 m Universiade Silver 1983 Edmonton 4x100 m relay Pacific Conference Games Gold 1981 Christchurch 4x100 m relay Pan American Junior Championships Bronze 1980 Sudbury 4x100 m relay Representing Americas World Cup Gold 1985 Canberra 100 m Silver 1985 Canberra 4x100 m relay

Benjamin Sinclair Johnson, CM OOnt (born December 30, 1961) is a Canadian former sprinter. During the 1987–88 season he held the title of the world's fastest man, breaking both the 100m and the 60m indoor World Records. He won the 100 metres at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics; and at the 1988 Summer Olympics, but was disqualified for doping and stripped of the gold medal; and later he also lost most of the other medals he had achieved while being doped - with anabolic steroids (since 1981 until caught the first time in 1988). He was the first man who beat 9.9 (Rome, 1987) and 9.8 seconds (Seoul, 1988).

He won two bronze medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics, as well as gold medals at the 1985 World Indoor Championships, 1986 Goodwill Games and 1986 Commonwealth Games. He was trained by Charlie Francis.

Biography

Career background

Benjamin Johnson was born in Falmouth, Jamaica, and emigrated to Canada in 1976, residing in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario.

Johnson met coach Charlie Francis and joined the Scarborough Optimists track and field club, training at York University. Francis was a Canadian 100 metres sprint champion himself (1970, 1971 and 1973) and a member of the Canadian team for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Francis was also Canada's national sprint coach for nine years.

Johnson's first international success came when he won 2 silver medals at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia. He finished behind Allan Wells of Scotland in the 100 metres with a time of 10.05 seconds and was a member of the Canadian 4 × 100 metres relay team which finished behind Nigeria. This success was not repeated at the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, where he was eliminated in the semi-finals, finishing 6th with a time of 10.44, nor at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas where Johnson placed 5th in the 100 metres final with a time of 10.25.

At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, he reached the 100 metres final; after a false start, he won the bronze medal behind Carl Lewis and Sam Graddy with a time of 10.22. He also won a bronze medal with the Canadian 4 × 100 m relay team of Johnson, Tony Sharpe, Desai Williams and Sterling Hinds, who ran a time of 38.70. By the end of the 1984 season, Johnson had established himself as Canada's top sprinter, and on August 22 in Zürich, Switzerland, he bettered Williams' Canadian record of 10.17 by running 10.12.

In 1985, after eight consecutive losses, Johnson finally beat Carl Lewis. Other success against Lewis included the 1986 Goodwill Games, where Johnson beat Lewis, running 9.95 for first place, against Lewis' third-place time of 10.06. He broke Houston McTear's seven-year-old world record in the 60 metres in 1986, with a time of 6.50 seconds. He also won Commonwealth gold at the 1986 games in Edinburgh, beating Linford Christie for the 100 metres title with a time of 10.07. Johnson also led the Canadian 4x100 metres relay team to gold, and won a bronze in the 200 metres.

On April 29, 1987, Johnson was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada. "World record holder for the indoor 60-metre run, this Ontarian has proved himself to be the world's fastest human being and has broken Canadian, Commonwealth and World Cup 100-metre records," it read. "Recipient of the Norton Crowe Award for Male Athlete of the Year for 1985, 'Big Ben' was the winner of the 1986 Lou Marsh Trophy as Canada's top athlete."

By the time of the 1987 World Championships, Johnson had won his four previous races with Lewis and had established himself as the best 100 metres sprinter. At Rome, Johnson gained instant world fame and confirmed this status when he beat Lewis for the title, setting a new world record of 9.83 seconds as well, beating Calvin Smith's former record by a full tenth of a second.

After Rome, Johnson became a lucrative marketing celebrity. According to coach Charlie Francis, after breaking the world record, Johnson earned about $480,000 a month in endorsements. Johnson won both the Lou Marsh Trophy and Lionel Conacher Award, and was named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year for 1987.

Following Johnson's defeat of Lewis in Rome, Lewis started trying to explain away his defeat. He first claimed that Johnson had false-started, then he alluded to a stomach virus which had weakened him.

In 1988, Johnson experienced a number of setbacks to his running career. In February of that year he pulled a hamstring, and in May he aggravated the same injury. Meanwhile, in Paris in June, Lewis ran a 9.99. Then in Zurich, Switzerland on August 17, the two faced each other for the first time since the 1987 World Championships; Lewis won in 9.93, while Johnson finished third in 10.00. "The gold medal for the (Olympic) 100 metres is mine," Carl Lewis said. "I will never again lose to Johnson."

Olympic Games and subsequent disqualification

On September 24, 1988, Johnson won the 100 metres final at the Summer Olympics in Seoul, lowering his own world record to 9.79 seconds. He was the first Canadian sprinter since Percy Williams in 1928 to win the 100 metres at the Olympics. Johnson later remarked that he would have been even faster if he hadn't raised his hand in the air just before he hit the tape.

He was disqualified three days after the race.

Canadian reaction

Canadians initially rejoiced in the reflected glory of winning the gold medal and breaking the world record. Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney watched Johnson set the new world record and after the race congratulated him over the phone. "It's a marvellous evening for Canada," Mulroney said in the televised conversation. Newspapers covered the occasion by concocting words such as "Benfastic" (Toronto Star, September 25, 1988) to describe it.

Two days later, Canadians witnessed the downfall of Johnson, when he was stripped of his gold medal and world record. Mark Tewksbury, a Canadian Olympic swimmer hung a bed sheet banner out of his Olympic Village apartment window expressing 'Hero to Zero in 9.79'. In the first week following the disqualification, Canadian newspapers devoted several pages a day to the story. One headline right after the exposure asked "Why, Ben?" (Toronto Sun, September 26, 1988). Because of the Olympic scandal, the Canadian news agency Canadian Press named Johnson "Newsmaker of the Year" for 1988.

Comeback

In 1991, after his suspension ended, he attempted a comeback. He returned to the track for the Hamilton Indoor Games in 1991 and was greeted by the largest crowd to ever attend an indoor Canadian track and field event. More than 17,000 people saw him finish second in the 50 metres in 5.77 seconds.

He failed to qualify for the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo but made the Canadian Olympic team again in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain after finishing second at the Canadian Olympic trials to Bruny Surin. He missed the 100 metre finals at the Olympics, however, finishing last in his semi-final heat after stumbling out of the blocks.

In 1993, he won the 50 metres on January 7 in Grenoble, France, in 5.65 seconds, just 0.04 seconds shy of the world record. However, he was again found guilty of doping just after the race – this time for excess testosterone – and was subsequently banned for life by the IAAF. Federal amateur sport minister Pierre Cadieux called Johnson a national disgrace, and suggested he consider moving back to Jamaica. Johnson commented that it was "by far the most disgusting comment [he had] ever heard". In April 1999, a Canadian adjudicator ruled that there were procedural errors in Johnson's lifetime ban and allowed him to appeal. The decision meant Johnson could technically run in Canada but nobody would compete against him. They would be considered "contaminated" by the IAAF and could also face sanctions. On June 12, 1999, Johnson entered a track meet in Kitchener, Ontario, and was forced to run alone, against the clock. He posted a time of 11.0 seconds.

In 1999, Johnson made headlines again when it was revealed that he had been hired by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to act as a personal trainer for his son, Al-Saadi Gaddafi, who aspired to join an Italian football club. Al-Saadi ultimately did join an Italian team but was sacked after one game. Johnson's publicist in Canada had predicted in The Globe and Mail that his training of the young Gaddafi would earn Johnson a Nobel Peace Prize.

Late 1990s and beyond

Johnson briefly acted as trainer for Argentine football player Diego Maradona in 1997. This occurred at York University, Toronto.

In 1998, Johnson appeared in a charity race in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, where he raced against a thoroughbred race horse, a harness racing horse and a stock car. Johnson finished third in the race.

According to a 1998 article in Outside magazine, Johnson spent much of the latter part of the 1990s living downstairs in the house he shared with his mother Gloria. He spent his leisure time reading, watching movies, and taking his mother to church. He lived in a spacious home in Newmarket, Ontario's Stonehaven neighborhood. He claims to have lost his Ferrari when he used it as collateral for a loan from an acquaintance in order to make a house payment. His mother died of cancer in 2004 and Johnson lived with his sister afterwards.

Shortly after his leaving Libya, it was reported that Johnson had been robbed of $7,300 by a Romani gang in Rome. His wallet was taken, containing $7,300 in cash, the proceeds of his pay for training Gaddafi. Johnson gave chase, but was unable to catch them after they vanished into a subway station.

In May 2005, Johnson launched a clothing and sports supplement line, the Ben Johnson Collection. The motto for Johnson's clothing line was "Catch Me"; however, the clothing line never caught on.

In a January 1, 2006 interview, Johnson claimed that he was sabotaged by a "Mystery Man" inside the doping control room immediately following the 100 metres final in Seoul.

In August 2008, Johnson filed a $37 million lawsuit against the estate of his former lawyer Ed Futerman, claiming Futerman made unauthorized payments from his trust account to pay bills and 20 percent commissions to a hairdresser recruited by the lawyer to act as the sprinter's sports agent. In 2012, the lawsuit was dismissed by the Ontario Superior Court by summary judgment on the basis that "there were no genuine issues raised requiring a trial".

At present, Johnson lives in Markham, Ontario, and spends much of his time with his daughter and granddaughter. He also continues to coach, notably with New Jersey Devils defenceman P.K. Subban. In 2010, he released his autobiography entitled Seoul to Soul. In the self-published book, Johnson reviews his childhood in Jamaica, and his early bout with malaria. A Canadian Press article described the book as "an unconventional sports autobiography."

Rivalry with Carl Lewis

The duels between the two competitors reached immense popularity, fans all over the world watched the duels with excitement. They matched 17 times. Lewis won the first eight, then Johnson won seven out of nine races. In all these years only one short verbal exchange between them is known. They were very different in various aspects. They came from different countries; one from Canada, one from the USA. While Ben grew up poor, Carls parents both went to college. Ben liked to party with his other rivals and had the reputation of a ladies' man, Carl on the other hand did not party often and was not as popular among the other athletes. Ben was incredible in the first 60 metres and had difficulties in the last 10 where Lewis was the fastest one. Carl benefited from his elegance and speed endurance whereas Johnson had impressive strength. He could bench press 165 kg, weighing only 72; when Lennox Lewis pranked him, he threw the soon-to-be boxing champion at the billard table.

Acting career

In March 2006, television spots featuring Johnson advertising an energy drink, "Cheetah Power Surge", started to receive some airtime. Some pundits questioned whether Johnson was an appropriate spokesperson for an all natural energy drink considering his history of steroid use. One ad is a mock interview between Johnson and Frank D'Angelo, the president and chief executive of D'Angelo Brands, which makes the drink, in which he asks Johnson: "Ben, when you run, do you Cheetah?" "Absolutely," says Johnson. "I Cheetah all the time." The other commercial includes Johnson and a cheetah, the world's fastest land animal, and encourages viewers to "go ahead and Cheetah."

In May 2017, Johnson appeared in an advertising campaign for Australia's leading mobile bookmaker, Sportsbet. The campaign launched Sportsbet's new Android app, with Johnson cheekily saying it "has tested positive for speed and power, again and again". The campaign tagline was "Putting the 'Roid in Android" and concluded with Johnson in the starters' block on a racing track, telling punters to "get on it!" The advertisement was pulled after complaints from various parties.

Documentaries

The CBC Radio documentary series Rewind broadcast an episode titled Ben Johnson: A Hero Disgraced on September 19, 2013, for the 25th anniversary of the race.

• 9.79 (ESPN documentary) featuring Ben Johnson and the 1988 Summer Olympic 100 meter Final.

See also

In Spanish: Ben Johnson (atleta) para niños

• List of doping cases in athletics
• Men's 100 metres world record progression