Ben Johnson is a former sprinter and Olympic champion who lives in Toronto, Ontario. 25 years ago at the summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Johnson became the world’s fastest man, running the 100-metre dash in a record time of 9.79 seconds. But after testing positive for steroids after the race, Johnson was disqualified, his world records were stricken, and he became one of the most infamous superstar athletes in history. Johnson now regrets his actions, speaking out against the use of performance enhancing drugs in sports, and urging young athletes to sign and support the #choosetherighttrack petition for an Athlete’s Support Council to guide them in making the right choices as competitors. Here, Johnson and I discuss violence in sports, why he’s speaking out against performance enhancing drugs in sports, his feelings about the incident in Seoul, his relationship with his late track coach Charlie Francis, his music and film collection, the revelations that Carl Lewis’ team have admitted that they tampered with his post-race drug test in Seoul, the 30 for 30 documentary, 9.79*, why he participated in the Cheetah sports drink ad campaign, what he thinks of Usain Bolt and whether sports can ever be free of drugs, and what’s next.
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