Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres
The Men's 100 meters at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea saw world champion Ben Johnson of Canada defeat defending Olympic champion Carl Lewis of the United States in a world record time of 9.79, breaking his own record of 9.83 that he had set at the 1987 World Championships in Rome. Two days later, Johnson was stripped of his gold medal by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after he tested positive for stanozolol, and his record of 9.79 seconds was deleted. The gold medal was then awarded to the original silver medalist Lewis, who had run 9.92. On 30 September 1989, following Johnson's admission to steroid use between 1981 and 1988, the IAAF rescinded his world record of 9.83 from the 1987 World Championship Final and stripped Johnson of his World Championship gold medal, which was also awarded to Lewis, who initially finished second.[1][2][3][4]
Men's 100 meters at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Venue | Olympic Stadium | |||||||||
Date | 23 & 24 September | |||||||||
Competitors | 102 from 69 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 9.92 WR | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics | ||
---|---|---|
Track events | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
800 m | men | women |
1500 m | men | women |
3000 m | women | |
5000 m | men | |
10,000 m | men | women |
100 m hurdles | women | |
110 m hurdles | men | |
400 m hurdles | men | women |
3000 m steeplechase | men | |
4×100 m relay | men | women |
4×400 m relay | men | women |
Road events | ||
Marathon | men | women |
20 km walk | men | |
50 km walk | men | |
Field events | ||
Long jump | men | women |
Triple jump | men | |
High jump | men | women |
Pole vault | men | |
Shot put | men | women |
Discus throw | men | women |
Javelin throw | men | women |
Hammer throw | men | |
Combined events | ||
Heptathlon | women | |
Decathlon | men | |
Wheelchair races | ||
Accordingly, Lewis's 9.92 from the Olympic Final was also recognized as the official world record, breaking the 9.93 mark that Calvin Smith had set in 1983 and Lewis had since equalled twice. Smith also participated in this race and originally finished fourth, but was elevated to third place and awarded the bronze medal, and Linford Christie of the United Kingdom, who originally won the bronze medal, was elevated to silver.
The other participants in this race, in order of finish, were Dennis Mitchell of the United States, who would go on to win the bronze medal in this event in Barcelona; Robson da Silva of Brazil, who won bronze in the 200 meters in Seoul; Johnson's teammate Desai Williams, a bronze medalist in the 4 x 100 meter relay in Los Angeles four years earlier; and Ray Stewart of Jamaica, who won a silver medal in the same relay at the Los Angeles Olympics.[5]
It would take eleven years for an athlete to run a "clean" 9.79 in the 100 meters, which was accomplished by Maurice Greene in Athens, Greece in 1999.
Aftermath
Johnson was not the only participant whose success was questioned: Lewis had tested positive at the Olympic Trials for pseudoephedrine, ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine. Lewis defended himself, claiming that he had accidentally consumed the banned substances. After the supplements that he had taken were analyzed to prove his claims, the USOC accepted his claim of inadvertent use, since a dietary supplement he ingested was found to contain "Ma huang", the Chinese name for Ephedra (ephedrine is known to help weight loss).[6] Fellow Santa Monica Track Club teammates Joe DeLoach and Floyd Heard were also found to have the same banned stimulants in their systems, and were cleared to compete for the same reason.[7][8]
The highest level of the stimulants Lewis recorded was 6 ppm, which was regarded as a positive test in 1988 but is now regarded as negative test. The acceptable level has been raised to ten parts per million for ephedrine and twenty-five parts per million for other substances.[6] According to the IOC rules at the time, positive tests with levels lower than 10 ppm were cause of further investigation but not immediate ban. Neal Benowitz, a professor of medicine at UC San Francisco who is an expert on ephedrine and other stimulants, agreed that "These [levels] are what you'd see from someone taking cold or allergy medicines and are unlikely to have any effect on performance."[6]
Following Exum's revelations the IAAF acknowledged that at the 1988 Olympic Trials the USOC indeed followed the correct procedures in dealing with eight positive findings for ephedrine and ephedrine-related compounds in low concentration.
Christie was found to have metabolites of pseudoephedrine in his urine after a 200m heat at the same Olympics, but was later cleared of any wrongdoing.[1][9] Of the top five competitors in the race, only former world record holder and eventual bronze medalist Smith never failed a drug test during his career. Smith later said: "I should have been the gold medalist."[10][11]
The CBC radio documentary, Rewind, "Ben Johnson: A Hero Disgraced" broadcast on September 19, 2013, for the 25th anniversary of the race, stated 20 athletes tested positive for drugs but were cleared by the IOC at this 1988 Seoul Olympics. An IOC official stated that endocrine profiles done at those games indicated that 80 percent of the track and field athletes tested showed evidence of long-term steroid use, although not all were banned.
Records
These were the then-recognized world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.
World Record | 9.831 | Rome (ITA) | August 30, 1987 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Olympic Record | 9.95 | Mexico City (MEX) | October 14, 1968 |
1 This time was rescinded by the IAAF Council in September 1989 after Johnson admitted to using steroids between 1981 and 1988. Following Johnson's disqualification, Carl Lewis's time of 9.92 was recognized as a new Olympic record, and also became a new world record after Johnson's time was rescinded.
Final
RANK | FINAL | TIME | NOTES |
---|---|---|---|
9.92 | Original silver medalist, awarded gold medal and world record after Johnson's disqualification. | ||
9.97 | Set a British and European record. | ||
9.99 | This was the first time anyone had broken ten seconds and finished third. | ||
4. | 10.04 | ||
5. | 10.11 | ||
6. | 10.11 | ||
7. | 12.26 | Pulled a hamstring after 55 meters. | |
DSQ | Stripped of gold medal and world record after he tested positive for stanozolol. | ||
Semi finals
RANK | HEAT 1 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 9.97 | |
2. | 10.15 | |
3. | 10.18 | |
4. | 10.24 | |
5. | 10.32 | |
6. | 10.33 | |
7. | 10.39 | |
8. | 10.43 |
RANK | HEAT 2 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.03 | |
2. | 10.11 | |
3. | 10.23 | |
4. | 10.24 | |
5. | 10.31 | |
6. | 10.35 | |
7. | 10.60 | |
– | DNS |
Quarter finals
RANK | HEAT 1 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.11 | |
2. | 10.13 | |
3. | 10.17 | |
4. | 10.41 | |
5. | 10.42 | |
6. | 10.53 | |
7. | 10.57 | |
8. | 10.61 |
RANK | HEAT 2 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.16 | |
2. | 10.25 | |
3. | 10.26 | |
4. | 10.27 | |
5. | 10.50 | |
6. | 10.51 | |
7. | 10.72 | |
8. | 11.44 |
RANK | HEAT 3 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.25 | |
2. | 10.33 | |
3. | 10.36 | |
4. | 10.41 | |
5. | 10.43 | |
6. | 10.45 | |
7. | 10.55 | |
8. | 10.57 |
RANK | HEAT 4 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.16 | |
2. | 10.30 | |
3. | 10.34 | |
4. | 10.37 | |
5. | 10.38 | |
6. | 10.50 | |
7. | 10.54 | |
8. | 10.55 |
RANK | HEAT 5 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 9.99 | |
2. | 10.24 | |
3. | 10.32 | |
4. | 10.33 | |
5. | 10.36 | |
6. | 10.49 | |
7. | 10.68 | |
8. | 10.83 |
RANK | HEAT 6 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.21 | |
2. | 10.32 | |
3. | 10.37 | |
4. | 10.38 | |
5. | 10.43 | |
6. | 10.55 | |
7. | 10.63 | |
8. | 10.76 |
Heats
RANK | HEAT 1 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.37 | |
2. | 10.40 | |
3. | 10.48 | |
4. | 10.56 | |
5. | 10.59 | |
6. | 10.82 | |
7. | 10.85 | |
8. | 10.96 |
RANK | HEAT 2 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.28 | |
2. | 10.39 | |
3. | 10.40 | |
4. | 10.58 | |
5. | 10.74 | |
6. | 10.75 | |
7. | 11.08 | |
8. | 11.21 |
RANK | HEAT 3 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.42 | |
2. | 10.47 | |
3. | 10.64 | |
4. | 10.70 | |
5. | 10.73 | |
6. | 10.89 | |
7. | 10.90 | |
8. | 11.01 |
RANK | HEAT 4 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.31 | |
2. | 10.46 | |
3. | 10.49 | |
4. | 10.51 | |
5. | 10.52 | |
6. | 10.54 | |
7. | 10.96 | |
8. | 11.53 |
RANK | HEAT 5 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.19 | |
2. | 10.34 | |
3. | 10.35 | |
4. | 10.47 | |
5. | 10.60 | |
6. | 10.69 | |
7. | 10.69 | |
8. | 11.52 |
RANK | HEAT 6 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.62 | |
2. | 10.64 | |
3. | 10.72 | |
4. | 10.76 | |
5. | 10.97 | |
6. | 11.20 | |
7. | 11.68 | |
— | DNF |
RANK | HEAT 7 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.22 | |
2. | 10.36 | |
3. | 10.52 | |
4. | 10.54 | |
5. | 10.80 | |
6. | 10.91 | |
7. | 11.22 |
RANK | HEAT 8 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.37 | |
2. | 10.55 | |
3. | 10.56 | |
4. | 10.70 | |
5. | 10.90 | |
6. | 10.94 | |
7. | 10.95 | |
8. | 11.17 |
RANK | HEAT 9 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.24 | |
2. | 10.50 | |
3. | 10.56 | |
4. | 10.68 | |
5. | 10.75 | |
6. | 10.79 | |
7. | 10.88 | |
8. | 10.92 |
RANK | HEAT 10 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.34 | |
2. | 10.44 | |
3. | 10.47 | |
4. | 10.51 | |
5. | 10.62 | |
6. | 10.70 | |
7. | 11.49 | |
8. | 11.55 |
RANK | HEAT 11 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.37 | |
2. | 10.45 | |
3. | 10.53 | |
4. | 10.68 | |
5. | 10.80 | |
6. | 11.01 | |
7. | 11.09 | |
8. | 11.52 |
RANK | HEAT 12 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.31 | |
2. | 10.40 | |
3. | 10.51 | |
4. | 10.51 | |
5. | 10.61 | |
6. | 10.71 | |
7. | 11.11 | |
8. | 11.49 |
RANK | HEAT 13 | TIME |
---|---|---|
1. | 10.14 | |
2. | 10.39 | |
3. | 10.44 | |
4. | 10.44 | |
5. | 10.76 | |
6. | 10.94 | |
7. | 11.19 |
See also
External links
References
- (in English) Official Report
- Duncan Mackay (April 18, 2003). "The dirtiest race in history Olympic 100m final, 1988". Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- Moore, Richard (2012). The Dirtiest Race in History: Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis and the Seoul Olympic 100m Final. Wisden Sports Writing. ISBN 9781408135952. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
- Montague, James (July 23, 2012). "Hero or villain? Ben Johnson and the dirtiest race in history". CNN.
- Mehaffey, John (September 23, 2013). "Smith true winner of 'dirtiest race' in history". Reuters. Retrieved June 20, 2015.
- "Athletics at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games: Men's 100 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
- Wallechinsky and Loucky, The Complete Book of the Olympics (2012 edition), page 61
- "Scorecard". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
- "Carl Lewis's positive test covered up". Smh.com.au. April 18, 2003. Retrieved April 11, 2012.
- "The most corrupt race ever". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-04-29.
- Duncan Mackay (April 23, 2003). "Lewis: 'Who cares if I tested positive'". The Guardian.