‘Trouble in the Lab’: The Ben Johnson doping case was anything but open and shut

After winning the 100-metre final at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, now remembered as “the dirtiest race in history,” Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson failed his drug test and was stripped of his gold medal. He later admitted to steroid use and has lived in ignominy since. In her new book World’s Fastest Man*: The Incredible Life of Ben Johnson, author Mary Ormsby raises serious questions about the science, procedures and prejudices that led to Johnson’s disqualification. This is the second of three excerpts: Tomorrow, ‘I’d do it again’.The doping case against Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson seemed open and shut. The fastest man on earth was unmasked as a cheater at the 1988 Seoul Olympics when his post-race urine test yielded traces of a banned anabolic steroid. Stripped of the 100-metre gold medal he’d possessed for just three days, Johnson was disqualified and flew home to Toronto in disgrace.