Ben Johnson 1991 60 Meter Race 1st Victory

//youtu.be/hNbNAofoHvY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNbNAofoHvY

I believe this is Ben’s 3rd race in his comeback in 1991.
He lost his first race 50M in CAN and his 2nd another 50M race in Los Angeles to a game Andre Cason. IIRC, Cason got away with a flyer.

My Favorite Sprinter in the Early 80s was Ron Brown. I loved watching his indoor races, especially.

I recorded most of BJ’s races from 85 on both indoor and outdoor. Over the years, the tapes were stolen one by one. I would have the kids that were into speed over and we would watch the tapes over and over again. One time, I made the mistake of loaning out one of my tapes to one of the fastest sprinters in CA. A teammate of mine. He knew darn well that he was moving to So Cal to finish up his HS career there as a Senior. It felt great that I not only made the State Meet in CA, but that he was in the Stands watching and not competing. I didn’t bother looking for him after I was done. I did look for another former Teammate who was also at the State Meet in the Shot Put Top 5? and placed 2nd in the State the year before.

The Kid that placed 2nd in the Shot Put my Senior year was a 10.9 sprinter. I raced him at the Regionals in the Q Rd. He took off bat crazy and strained a hammie to win the heat. I was just looking to Q as easy as I could. I missed the Final bc I missed the last call to check in. It was Stupid mistake and I cost the Team a Regional Championship. I was ready for a Huge PB. Our 2nd fastest guy ran a nice PB of 10.9. We probably would have been a 41.0 relay team if the guy who stole my tape would have stayed. We would have been a great Team overall if both of those guys stayed.

//youtu.be/LMpYVd9QPbs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMpYVd9QPbs

1987 Ron Brown vs Darrell Green kickoff return… Front Side vs Back Side

1987 BJ is now my favorite sprinter and Ron Brown- my favorite Special Teams player to watch. Huge Market Crash didn’t stop the NFL.

//youtu.be/TkrraGmXzUs

Ron Brown nips Desai Williams for the 4th and Final Spot in the SF 84
1984 Olympics, Men’s 100m, Semifinal 1, Los Angeles, USA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkrraGmXzUs

If this race was at the 76 OLY games…Desai Williams of CAN would have gone to the Finals.
Home Field Advantage is real.
I think D. Williams had the .001 win here, but you won’t find the official times anywhere.

Charlie nearly had 3 athletes in the Final at the OLY Games.
At the 84 Games to the media “Carl has leveled off, while Ben is still improving yearly” or something like that. CF also said that BJ would surpass Carl in the years to come.

For example, look at 1987 60 Final. 6.41 after the BS Fasle Start called on BJ. That was a 6.37 easy for a race he could care less about.
In early 1988 at an Indoor Meet he was probably on pace for a 6.34 or 6.33 when he pulled up and limped in to a 6.50. At Altitude that is .01-.02 faster.

//youtu.be/2QOKdfigYgk

Ben Johnson in Zurich 1981 Lane 1 before the big decision. 1982 4x100 lane 1 4 min mark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QOKdfigYgk

Mel Lattany is in the comments.

Did you guys know in his prime Ben Johnson could squat 700 lbs for reps. Its true!

Giving a shoutout to BJMB

Great stories Balance.

When I think of track I think of the stories. How I used to watch all of Charlie’s people without knowing they were Charlie’s athletes.Taping all of Ben’s races was a pretty cool thing too. Interesting people would steal them or did they just not give them back after borrowing them?

Charlie used to say how Ben used to watch races over and over and over again.

You know what some say! Sharing a good story is like sharing a good meal.
Being from CAN I’m sure you can appreciate that one. Especially in these times.
Most ppl will never get what I’m really saying. I’m more than fine with it.

Speaking of meals. I tell my kids to watch Grandma eat when she is here. I always tell them "When Grandma eats, she eats. When you eat, eh, you eat!
Came up with that one after I heard an audio from Buddy Morris speaking at Altis years ago. He said the Chinese have a saying…When I drink tea, I DRINK tea. When you drink tea, eh, you drink tea (dismissive lol).

Grandma is in the present. Taking it all in. in a peaceful moment.

1991 Sunkist Invitational
Ben Johnson (He’s Back), Andre Cason, Henry Neal, Frankie Fredericks…

I had this on tape as well.

https://youtu.be/cnFXIMdnCwI

Plenty of BS times back in the 80s and 90’s.
Look at Carl Lewis 84 (edit) 100 U.S.A. trials race, for example. Ben would get called back for legit starts.

Here’s the complete race in CAN in 91. Looks like he actually won this race.

https://youtu.be/PqxxeUPF2jU

For the archives-

https://youtu.be/4aI7OOoibB0

Flo Jo interview in Spanish.
@11:30 Ben, Desai and Angella are working on their starts. DW seems to be holding his own against BJ. Angella with her poor reaction time to the gun. Everyone of the races I have watched of her…she was horrible reacting to the gun and even worse on her first step or two.

I checked in to the O Ducks game Sat. And heard them talk about a guy named Ronnie who went to a High School I competed against in San Jose, so I looked him up. The guy who won the regional race that I missed is Ronnie Harris. I never knew he went to the NFL after O. Makes sense with 10.6 HS speed. Fast white guy like CF. Lots of options are available for fast ppl. Lots of Calls from Coaches in Football and Baseball…heck, even boxing.
My Dad would always have me box the older kids at the park back in the day. Easy work lol.
Could never get away with it nowadays. All these soft men put a stop to that…
If I offended anyone…get over it.