The truth can hurt

Ben Johnson comes across as more of a sad man than a bitter man. That's why you feel you've got to believe him. In an interview two weeks ago in the Sunday Tribune, Johnson was shown to have a pre-occupation both with women's breasts and with Western films. This week he has alleged that athletes have avoided being caught cheating with drugs in the past by striking deals with the organisers of meetings. No end to Ben's powers to surprise.

The Canadian sprinter, who was at the centre of arguably the biggest doping scandal in sport at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, believes he was not alone in taking drugs during his successful years in the 100 metres, but others escaped detection because they were better advised.

"Athletes or their managers would say to promoters, `I am not coming to your meeting if I'm tested'. That was the deal," Johnson said, adding that the recent doping scandals at the Tour de France and positive tests of US athletes Dennis Mitchell and Randy Barnes proved that there is no level playing field in top-class sport.

"Now the world has seen that no sport is fair, that there is no level playing field - that cyclists are at it, Dennis Mitchell, Randy Barnes, the East Germans, the Chinese, everybody is at it. So Ben Johnson is not the only one who was doing it. And I was never alone. In 1988 I was not alone. The majority at Seoul were on some substance. Take the medals away from East Germans and give them to the Americans? Give me a break." Yep. Sad, Ben, but probably true.