Since I posted the article about Ben complaining, it's only fair to post this one from today's ESPN News Service:
If you think you've heard every excuse for a positive doping test, think again: Discredited sprinter Ben Johnson has told an Australian newspaper that his chief rival, Carl Lewis, was "involved" in a conspiracy to sabotage Johnson's drug testing scandal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Lewis' manager, Joe Douglas, vehemently denied the claim, telling the Melbourne (Australia) Herald Sun that "Carl had absolutely nothing to do with Ben testing positive."
Johnson, who had his gold medal and world record in the 100-meter dash stripped after failing a drug test at the games, has claimed that someone tampered with his drink, causing the positive test that disgraced him.
"I have the information on how it was done and why it was done this way and who was behind it," he told the Herald Sun on Monday. "I won't say too much but … he's involved."
Asked if Lewis played a role in his allegations, Johnson said "I won't say too much but & he's involved."
"I've been speaking to my lawyer and he wants to keep it as low [key] as possible until next June," Johnson told the newspaper. "We're trying to get some information, try to get that guy [a U.S. football player] to speak."
"That guy" is at the center of Johnson's claim: That an unnamed football player who was a family friend of Lewis was the "mystery man" photographed drinking beer in the drug test waiting room at the Seoul games could have spiked Johnson's drink with a banned steroid.
The story is apparently not new: In his autobiography "Inside Track," published in 1990, Lewis ridiculed the possibility that the football player, described as a "family friend," would have tampered with Johnson's drink.
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Mike Young
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