Ben Johnson, the Canadian sprinter stripped of a gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul has told Off the Ball he previously had failed a drugs test in 1986.
Johnson won the 100-metres title in South Korea with a World Record time of 9.79 seconds. Three days later, the Canadian was stripped of his medal and disqualified after having failed a drugs test. His blood and urine samples featured the anabolic steroid Stanozolol.
"I tested positive before, but I was wearing a different shoes company. I was wearing Adidas.", Johnson told Off the Ball. "That happened one time in Zurich. I think it was in 1986... I was with Diadora, a shoes company". Johnson added that he was promised a house if he won in Seoul. "I win the gold medal, and then everything fell apart."
Despite revealing that he had failed a test in Switzerland, Johnson is still unsure what was found in his system. "I didn't know. My coach told me about it."
The "my mindset is to do the best I can. I don't worry about the other athletes out there. I worry about myself... When I go on the track, we're not lovers, we're not friends, we're just here to do business. That's it."
Johnson was speaking earlier this week with Olympic gold medallist Greg Louganis and former Irish international Niall Quinn at the Crossing the Line Summit in Dublin.
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