Top 100 momentsNo. 66
Johnson’s 9.79 comes back
Ben Johnson wins the Seoul 100 in world-record time, then fails a drug test. The sprint final becomes the doping era’s most public crime scene.
September 24, 1988. Ben Johnson beats Carl Lewis in 9.79. Canada explodes. Three days later the medal is gone. Stanozolol. The race is reassigned. The image of Johnson pointing down the track becomes an image of a sport that had been whispering.
Track and field cannot pretend the 100 meters is clean. Testing, bans, BALCO, later scandals — the public’s suspicion has a date. Coaches still chase hundredths. Fans still squint at the clock.
Seoul is not the first doped Games. It is the one that made the 100 meters a morality play with a photo finish.