As #Paris2024 Olympics Ends, Let's Revisit "The Dirtiest Race In History" (Sports)

 This Seoul 1988 100m race is dubbed " the dirtiest race in history". Six out of the right finalists racing to the finish line doped. Calvin Harris, Calvin ith, Carl Lewis, Linford Christie, were done of the names on the starting line up, September 28, 1988, the day of the 100m Olympics final. 

        Ben Johnson at the starting line up

Canadian Ben Johnson who won the race, and with it setting a new world record of 9.79 seconds. 

Gap between Ben Johnson and second-placed Lewis, and ithers

But three days later, he was found guilty of doping. He handed over the gold medal back, plus his world title a year earlier in Time. But, he has always maintained he was set up, for he said he was doping as everyone was also doing, but he was taking a different steroid, not Stanizolol found in his urine sample. He claims, a team mate of Carl Lewis' who was in the lab room spiked his urine sample. 

             Others at the starting line

Johnson became the most vilified in athletics, even  sports. His stripped gold medal then went to arch rival, American Carl Lewis the defending champion who Johnson had defeated four times going into the race, who was silver medallist. Johnson attempted comebacks in 1991 and 1983, but he was then banned for life after two subsequent doping episodes..

Meanwhile, Carl Lewis is the biggest cheat athletics ever saw. The IOC revisited the 1984 & 88 drug trials in 2003. And discovered Lewis and co heavily doped. But was covered by USOC. Big time politics in sports. USOC refused to hand over the test results for two decades and the IOC could do nothing for USOC was basically funding IOC, single handedly selecting it's officials including those at world anti doping agency, WADA. But IOC regained its spine in 2003 and got the test results after tense but fierce face off with USOC. And found all the shenanigans. Lewis admitted it too. Publicly. For the humiliation, theUSOC then ensured the then chair of the IOC did not get reelected for this.

For real, US institutionalized doping for its athletes who could pay to join the elite athletics clubs affiliated with the state run doping program. 

The events progressively led to the end of BALCO, the science lab all the elite athletes used which blood doped them. Because same year, coach to Marion Jones & tim Montgomery ripped off  IAAF and both athletes were caught. USOC was still playing its usual games. Both still went to Athens 2004 where without the juice, they were woeful to watch. Failed miserably. Marion blamed it on recent childbearing hormones 

Marion soon confessed and all her medals were withdrawn. Balco roided them heavily, then developed THG compound, a masking agent, to shield their blood from detection for steroids. It remained so till that athletics coach secretly handed over THG to IAAF and whistleblowing what it is, urging to get a compound that can detect THG, and then disciver steroids one year before  IAAF world meet, same 2003. 

Research his health issues afterwards too. There's a reason America kept him hidden from public life.