As a child, I occasionally heard about the history of the Korean War, because my country, Canada, fought in the war. And I sometimes heard about Korean products, because I knew that some Western items were manufactured in Korean factories. However, my first really personal memory of Korea comes from 1988.

That year, Korea hosted the summer Olympic Games. As always, the most anticipated event at the Olympics was the men’s 100-meter sprint. 1988 was special, however, because at that time the world champion and world record holder in the 100-meter event was a Canadian, Ben Johnson. For more than a year, the rivalry between Johnson and the American Carl Lewis (the 1984 Olympic champion) had been one of the biggest stories in Canada.

Canada is a big country geographically, but it has a smaller population than Korea. In other words, Canada, like Korea, is a small country living next to a big, powerful country. Ben Johnson was more than just a sports celebrity for Canadians. He was our representative against the American superpower. In addition, the 100-meter sprint had been dominated by American sprinters for many years. Johnson was Canada’s chance to steal some glory and attention away from the U.S., and to do it in the biggest sports event of the year!

Ben Johnson ran very conservatively in the qualifying races, and almost didn’t qualify for the Olympic final. Luckily (we thought), he made it. Then came the big event. The Olympic Stadium in Seoul was full. Millions of people in Canada, and a billion people around the world, watched this incredible moment on TV. The Stadium became completely quiet. The TV announcers stopped talking. I, like most Canadians, stopped breathing. Finally, the starter fired his gun, and the race began.

Even today, more than twenty-three years later, I can remember the race perfectly. I can even remember the voices of the Canadian TV commentators shouting during the race. Ben Johnson won easily! Carl Lewis was second, but the race was not close. Johnson—Canada’s Ben Johnson—ran the 100-meters faster than any man in the history of the world. 9.79 seconds!

But that is not what I remember most about the Korean Olympics. A couple of days after the race, the Olympic organizers announced that one of the runners in the 100-meter final had tested positive for drugs. It was Ben Johnson. He was accused of using steroids, strength drugs, to improve his performance.

Johnson and his coach denied the test results. They said maybe Lewis’ team had put some drugs in Johnson’s test sample. But Johnson lost the gold medal. Lewis, who finished second, was given the gold. It was the worst possible outcome. Not only did the American win, but the Canadian was disqualified for cheating. This was one of the biggest scandals in Canadian history.

For months, Johnson and his team continued to deny that he had cheated. The Canadian government held hearings to determine the truth. Many Canadians, who had dreamed of Johnson’s victory, tried to believe in him. Office workers and families argued about it. Finally, too many witnesses gave evidence against Johnson, and everyone had to admit the truth. Ben was a cheater. Many Canadians have emotional scars from that summer in Korea.

Years later, we learned that all eight finalists in that race had used steroids. But that didn’t matter to Canadians.

by Daren Jonescu

Daren Jonescu  -

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