Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis in 1988: How Big a Deal was the Race?

It is either 100m or marathon nowdays.

Obviously modern sprinters are on juice. Asafa Powell, Mo Greene, you kidding?

I remember flojo more in 1988 Seoul Games.

Huge!

I remember where I was when Ben "won", and I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard "the news". Like "where were you when JFK was shot?" It was that big for us Canucks. Our nation was hungover after the bust.

I was a 15 year old in the UK and it was a big deal. I remember speculating about who would win with friends who had no interest in athletics at all. I guess it was because Lewis was so high profile, it was a perfect duel with no-one else was close, the stark contrast between the two protagonists, and the way it had built up from the world champs the year before. And this was all before the drugs bust.

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e4 wrote:

Huge!

I remember where I was when Ben "won", and I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard "the news". Like "where were you when JFK was shot?" It was that big for us Canucks. Our nation was hungover after the bust.

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Carl Lewis and everyone else from the 84 Olympics (Mary Lou, Michael Jordan, Karch Kiraly, etc) benefitted hugely from the fact that it was the first Olympics that had ever been hyped up and televised as much as it was--plus having the Olympics in the US and the glamour of the Soviet boycott added to all the hype.

Had the 84 Olympics been in Tokyo or somewhere far and away, Peter Ueberoth would not have created the huge deal that we know today as "The Olympics." He created a giant television monster out of the Olympics and NBC learned to milk it for all it was worth.

Whatever happened to Jim McKay?

everything about the 88 olympics seemed big at the time. certainly lewis-johnson was a major event, but i think we overestimate that no since it became such a mega-story after the positive test. i don't know that it was quite as life-altering event pre-race as kornheiser made it out to be today.

i took issue with what TK was saying about how "it's a shame that [johnson] was disgraced, his career was ruined, he was forced to start racing animals for money, etc." (obviously i'm paraphasing.) as if johnson had gotten a raw deal and was a victim in everything that happened. he cheated, he got caught, and his career was ruined. basically, he got exactly what he deserved. kornheiser and wilbon rip on landis, gatlin, et.al. incessantly for the same situation. why is johnson's loss of credibility any different?

Ben Johnson always goes on how he was a victim, he was out here in Australia recently on a talk show, he openly admitted he was taking steroids at the time, but claims he was caught on drugs that he wasn't taking and hence he is a victim???? He also said how he was such a great athlete and how the drugs didn't make him the great sprinter he became. Firstly then why take them? And secondly the drugs helped him recover quicker than those who were clean so of course they helped him.

I don't think the anticipation was all that big of a deal. Carl Lewis was well known, but he was never extremely popular, although the public did warm up to him a little bit towards the end of his career.

Lewis came across as a prima donna, and a lot of people hadn't even heard of Ben Johnson. So there was no real anticipation except among hardcore track fans. There was far more hysteria leading up to the Mile of the Century between Ryun and Liquori.

The 100 meter race in 1988 was pretty incredible, as Johnson rocketed out of the blocks and managed to hold his lead. It wasn't until afterwards, when Johnson tested positive, that the race became high profile and was replayed a million times on television. It was bad publicity for the sport.

Don't forget the results. When Johnson crossed the line at 9.79, with three others breaking 10, it was literally breath-taking.

Had Johnson won in 9.97, I doubt the race would have had the impact it did.

I agree with your recollections for the most part.
Particularly your comments about Carl. Their had to
have been some 'buzz' about Ben before the race because
I knew he had a good shot to win and I was no big track
nut at the time.

Maybe Ben had ran some good times in the six months
or so prior to the Olympics.

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Bob Wildes wrote:
Maybe Ben had ran some good times in the six months
or so prior to the Olympics.

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I was only 10, but I do remember this race.

Johnson just blew away the field, and he made it look so easy. Wasn't he letting up at the finish, or have his hand raised?

The other thing that sticks out in my mind was the announcer:

NINE-SEVEN-NINE!!! Johnson's time destroyed the previous world record. With Johnson's DQ, Lewis' "second place" time of 9.92 became the new world record. It took well more than a decade for sprinters to reach Johnson's juiced time of 9.79 (Mo Green did it in June '99).

I was 23 at the time and I remember friend of mine told me what happened and said, "You should have seen the look on Carl Lewis' face at the finish."

I wasn't in to track and field at the time, just partying, but I remember it was seriously hyped and the result was stunning.

it was a huge deal.

and you're right, Carl Lewis was "bigger" than Mo G., and M. J., and the sprinters these days.

i think a lot of the hype was a long term effect from LA '84.

A lot of y'all are too young and just speculating. I am 47, and was 28 in 1988, and will give you my perspective. I don't think the race was huge with the general public, but it was pretty big. In those days, T&F, at least once every four years, was a bit more high-profile, and as has been stated above, Carl Lewis was known by EVERYONE, not just T&F fans, in the U.S. He was the most recognized track athlete since Jesse Owens in 1935-36, and deservedly so (deservedly in terms of his accomplishments, not in terms of whether he may have been juicing or not). He was not the most "loved," but certainly the most well-known, and as it is with Americans, everyone with an interest in the Olympics wanted him to win because Americans ALWAYS root for the USA in the Olympics. But was the race something the average person remembers like the moon landing or JFK assasination? No, just another race. I'm sure it was a much bigger deal for Canadians.
Now the Johnson positive test, yes, that was big time. The triumph of the American sprinter over the Canadian cheater? Restoring order to the Universe! Everyone remebers that with relief and pride. Never mind that many people close to T&F have strong opinions on Lewis' drug use, especially in the early 80s, the summer of 83 in particular when his face got so puffy. I mention this as context, not because I feel strongly one way or the other about it, or have any personal knowledge.
Now, from within T&F people, the race was HUGE. I was in Moscow in 1986, a member of the Goodwill Games team, and was in the cavernous Olympic Stadium near the Moscow River with a great seat for the 100m final. I was stunned when Johnson won. A fluke! I hadn't seen Lewis lose a race since 1980 in Eugene when he was about 19. My first thought, and it was spoken by many that night, was Johnson must be using some powerful dope to beat our King Carl. The next summer, leading up to the IAAF in Rome, I was in Germany training in August, in a sports complex in Dortmund before joining the U.S. team in Stuttgart, and we were able to watch the European meets like Zurich on TV, great coverage. Big Ben was tearing it up -- 9.97, 9.95 every time like it was nothing. It looked like Carl would need a great start and a 9.90 to win in Rome. I did not see the 100m final -- I was outside the stadium racing the 20k walk on a road loop when the 100m final took place, and then we finished on the track about 30 minutes later -- but his win in Rome was a major bummer. So I remember vividly watching the 100m final in 1988 at my friend's house in Colorado Springs , hoping for a miracle by Carl,(I had failed to make the O team in the 100-degree heat and humidity of Indianapolis) and the disappointment I felt when Ben won again. The next day I was on the roof of my house near Cripple Creek fiddling with the antenna when my wife came out and told me Johnson tested positive and would be stripped of the gold. I nearly jumped off the roof for joy. "I knew it all along!" I shouted.

The race was huge. The next morning, before the drug test positive, the Los Angeles Times ran a huge top headline in their sports section that merely read: "9.79"

We all knew Ben Johnson had run 9.83 in Rome, but we also felt that Carl Lewis was an Olympics phenom, that he'd rise to the occasion and put Ben in his place. That Ben had just been lucky with his Rome run.

Then the gun went off, and the reality of Ben Johnson hit us square in the face. He rocketed out to the lead. It was superhuman. His strength, his focus, his dominance - I'd never seen anything like it. Then, instead of fading as Carl Lewis made his patented "kick" over the last 20 meters, Ben held on. I was euphoric that I'd watched it live. I figured I'd truly seen the very edge of the envelope when it came to human performance.

Then Ben got busted for drugs.

And our sport began its fast spiral down the toilet.

Even since, we've been the sport of druggies - no matter what we do (drug-testing, clean performances) in relation to other sports.

That was the day T & F died for most Americans.

The thing I remember about this was how MASSIVE Johnson was, size-wise. He wouldn't stand out so much today (hmm), but while Carl was plenty strong-looking, I remember that Ben looked like he could break him in two, and it looked improbable at the time that this guiy who looked like a body-builder could outrun the leaner guys. It was like watching a rhino outrun a bunch of antelope, not quite right. Of course, he was the harbinger of some pretty ripped guys who were to come.
When he was busted, it wasn't so much a shock that he was doping, but that the authorities would go after such a "big fish", who had provided such a show.