NEW YORK - Disgraced former sprinter Ben Johnson, who had his 100m gold and world record at the 1988 Olympics stripped after testing positive for steroids, has claimed a book due in September will provide new evidence that he was a victim of sabotage.
Johnson also claimed he had been wronged by the Olympic and athletics authorities, despite conceding that he had knowingly taken the banned substance in the lead-up to the Seoul Games.
“It’s been 22 years that I tested positive in 1988, and it has come to pass that I was sabotaged, put it that way,” Johnson told reporters on Thursday ahead of a symposium in Harlem on sports in Jamaica.
Canadian Johnson said his autobiography “Seoul to Soul” would reveal new information about his case that had come to light four years ago.
“There’s more coming out, there’s more that I could say, but I can’t elaborate too much … I can’t say too much right now, because I’ve been advised by my manager that I can’t say too much about the book,” the 48-year-old added, wearing a dark suit, purple shirt and tie.
Asked why he was bringing the information to light now, Johnson said: “To show the world that I wasn’t the only one who was doing what they’re doing because of a level playing field.”
Johnson said his coach Charlie Francis, who died earlier this month after a five-year battle with cancer, had approached athletics authorities about his concerns about doping among East German athletes.
"My coach Charlie Francis, who just passed away last week, back in the early '80s he spoke to the IAAF and said 'listen, these East German people are doping and if my athletes are running clean we have to play a level field.
"They don’t listen to him, they turned him back, so he said that he didn’t have a choice. What he done for me, didn’t make me run faster. It just got me to train a little harder so I can recover.
"I just get a little bit bitter from how I was treated by the IOC (International Olympics Commission) and the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations).
“I made some mistakes too, in my time, but my coach and I decided that if other East Germans are doing what they’re doing that a level playing field hasn’t been set.”
Johnson insisted the banned anabolic steroids had not given him any advantage. “It doesn’t make you run faster or do anything else,” he said.
Johnson, appearing with former Jamaican Olympians at the Schomburg Center on Malcolm X Boulevard, said he planned to donate some proceeds from his book to Jamaica’s track and field association to help kids in his native hometown of Falmouth.
“I have lots of information that the world hasn’t known,” added Johnson, who lives in Toronto. “I was wrongfully convicted and singled out. I want to share this to the world.”
I’m excited to read this book but will it be taken seriously? Why doesn’t ESPN or SI get a hold of this information? A major news source needs to do a story or we may not hear a lot about it. Lets hope they get involved.
Actually it was only around the time of the Athens Olympics in 2004 that Andre Jackson - the “mystery man” in the Seoul test waiting area - contacted Ben and met him in Toronto with an alleged confession.
This story goes way deeper than just this successful alleged attempt to eliminate Ben from the game. There were allegedly numerous other attempts which failed - when they shouldn’t have - thereby raising questions of protection and allegedly implicating some of the most powerful and influential people in the sport.
I am sure that a big part of the reason for the delay in publishing will have been the legal minefield Ben is running through to tell what he can prove, as distinct from what he knows but cannot prove in a court of law.
He will write this book with one hand tied behind his back by his own lawyers even if the alleged “hired assassin” stands firm and willing to testify in court.
Even then, just because you testify in court doesn’t automatically mean you win the case. Truth is not a defence against defamation in many jurisdictions.
Apart from that, it would be the publisher who stands to lose a heap of money because they will be party to being sued.
And there seems no doubt in my mind that if this book hits the streets there will be litigation and attempts from the highest places in the sport to pulp this book pronto.
If it ever comes out, buy it ASAP because - like Speed Trap - there will be powers in play who want to see the truths it contains never see the light of day.
He does not need a publisher. He can publish it himself. I am sure he has got the final draft of the book in MS Word. He could simply upload it and publish the link on numerous websites. Once it gets downloaded by a few people, it will spread like a wild fire and no one will be able to do anything about it.
I’m sure he and his manager have thought of that. Maybe that’s what he is doing.
I do know he would like to earn some income from it, and I assume he would like to defray costs - ergo the more likely route of a pubisher, but on his website no publisher is listed (maybe I missed it)…
Even to make a profit, self-publishing through a print on demand company is better tahn giving all the money to a publisher.
Put differently, with a publisher he might get a dollar or two per copy sold and he’ll still be expected to go out and do signings and stuff to promote it.
Through self-publishing, he can make all the profit for all the work. That’s why I self-publish. If I have to do the work of promoting it, I’m going to make all the profit. Screw the publishers.
Charlie told me about some of this when I was up there in 2005. In fact, we saw Ben at a club that week, and I talked with him about it very briefly. He had recently come back from a trip to meet with Andre Jackson. If even just the little bit that Charlie told me is in the book, there will really be a shit storm erupting from this. I mean major shit storm.
According to Charlie, Ben’s problem at the time was finding a credible outlet for the story, as opposed to just posting it on the internet. I think the major news outlets didn’t want to touch it, so that’s probably why he went with a publisher. Yes, the publisher might be on the line in terms of potential legal liability, but that’s the point. Ben now has a credible publishing name that’s willing to put its reputation on the line for his story. It lends credibility to his story. That’s one of the functions of publishers. Of course, as Lyle pointed out, they extract a hefty tax for that credibility.
My suggestion was referring to the last sentence of the article;
"If it ever comes out, buy it ASAP because - like Speed Trap - there will be powers in play who want to see the truths it contains never see the light of day. "
So, the issue is not - “they” will try to keep it under the carpet, rather Ben wants it out and can get it out, or has the means to get it out while trying to maximise the profit from the sale of the book. That’s a different ball game.
A book like - Speed Trap - can be printed in China for 1/10 of the cost but I doubt he wants or can go in the “self-publish” direction. One thing for sure, I will buy a copy.
While I woiuld have agreed with you regarding publishers lending credibility to the book a few years ago, I’m not sure that’s any longer the case. Self-publishing is fairly well accepted as being just as credible as having a big publisher.