what made you pick him? was it just a gut feeling, an instinct, or did he seem to have ideal body structure etc?
buy and read “speed trap”
has all the answers
where can i buy it? ill have a look on amazon etc now.
can you get it in a “real” book? like paperback or hardback. ive found it on amazon like that though.
Yes you can get it on amazon but it may be expensive. My copy is worth a fortune!
I got mine a year ago for about $25, but now I see the cheapest on Amazon is $43.
Mine was worth a fortune a few months ago … now its signed its priceless!
Did you get ben and charlie though? 
Do I need Carls aswell???
Andre Jackson is top of my list now!
TC,
I love your avatar ahaa!
-Wu Gong Heng
Bens older brother allready trained in Charlie’s group. Charlie mentioned in speed trap that he was not “bowled over” immediately by Ben (who joined when he was 15 years old.)
At first it seemed Desia williams, Angela and a few others would become the best Canada could hope for. Charlie mentioned later in the book tho, that Ben had true confidence. In an early race which he supposedly lost in his teenage years, he still kept his composure becuase he believed that he had won (as did Charlie), and that’s all he needed to know, plus he had bigger plans for his future. Charlie was impressed by this.
He also mentioned that Ben and “an allmost mystical self awareness” and could adjust by the slightest split seconds, each training run, to the exact order of his coach’es request.
There’s lots of other stuff about Ben, the others and many other things, it’s a great book.
I definately recommend you buy speed trap. One of my all time favorite books, but to answer your question, Charlie did not recruit or necessarily decide to ‘keep’ ben johnson, but just worked with whoever came out to practice. Same with the other runners he coached.
yes buy speed trap its v. interesting
Speed Trap is no doubt one of the best books I’ve read, just 'cos its so fucking frank and honest. Its refreshing. Thanks Charlie. Great piece of track and field history…
yeah, he sould make an update, cause speed trap stops circa 1992 or something
Speed Traps of the New Millenium
What happened to Ben’s older brother? Did he continue to sprint?
He went to Lamar Univ in Texas and became a preacher. (Lamar ran him in the 400m- at 5ft4in?? Don’t ask)