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28 Years Later: Ben Johnson Would Use Steroids All Over Again to Be the World's Fastest Man
The anabolic steroid stanzolol (also known by its trade name Winstrol) has been popularly associated with one athlete – Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson – for the past couple of decades. This is all due to a single anti-doping test performed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul which found stanozolol metabolites in Johnson's urine sample. Johnson denied using the steroid in question at the time and he has consistently denied using it ever since.
It is not unusual for an athlete who fails a drug test to deny using anabolic steroids knowingly. But Johnson's case is different. He didn't deny using steroids and/or performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Johnson had no problem admitting to the use of steroids. He simply denied using the specific steroid stanozolol.
And 28 years later, Johnson is sticking to his story. When journalist Ian O'Riordan asked Johnson about it during an interview in the Old Library of Trinity College Dublin in May 2016, Johnson remained convinced that steroids were necessary to compete at the highest levels of sport. Johnson's “conscious was clear” he was “not ashamed” of using steroids in pursuit of his Olympic glory in what has became known as the dirtiest race in history.
“Well that was my destiny, so probably, yeah, because I can’t choose my destiny, and if God choose it like that, so, yes. I only cared about myself. It’s a business. In 1988, winning the gold medal, I was happy in my heart. My conscious is clear, and I’m not ashamed of what I did, or I did to me…
“It bothers me sometimes, and I interview myself, and ask did I do the right thing? At the time it was the right thing. But now, I would probably do it again, so to speak. I’m still alive, aren’t I?”
Johnson justified his use of steroids by pointing out that the steroids didn't make him faster . They were only intended as “recovery drugs”. Furthermore, “most of [his] competitors” were also using steroids.
“It was brought to my attention that most of my competitors were on performance-enhancing drugs. As a kid, growing up, I thought there were no drugs in sport. As I got better and faster I was put in a corner where, you know, I was told these guys are taking drugs. I said yes at the time, it was my own doing, because I wanted to be the best I can be, and I did.
“As time goes by, I never point the finger at one who tested positive, because we were all in the same boat, to be the best we can, make some money. The sport is corrupt, dirty, and it’s going to keep going like that. No one can stop it.
The anabolic steroid stanzolol (also known by its trade name Winstrol) has been popularly associated with one athlete – Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson – for the past couple of decades. This is all due to a single anti-doping test performed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul which found stanozolol metabolites in Johnson's urine sample. Johnson denied using the steroid in question at the time and he has consistently denied using it ever since.
It is not unusual for an athlete who fails a drug test to deny using anabolic steroids knowingly. But Johnson's case is different. He didn't deny using steroids and/or performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). Johnson had no problem admitting to the use of steroids. He simply denied using the specific steroid stanozolol.
And 28 years later, Johnson is sticking to his story. When journalist Ian O'Riordan asked Johnson about it during an interview in the Old Library of Trinity College Dublin in May 2016, Johnson remained convinced that steroids were necessary to compete at the highest levels of sport. Johnson's “conscious was clear” he was “not ashamed” of using steroids in pursuit of his Olympic glory in what has became known as the dirtiest race in history.
“Well that was my destiny, so probably, yeah, because I can’t choose my destiny, and if God choose it like that, so, yes. I only cared about myself. It’s a business. In 1988, winning the gold medal, I was happy in my heart. My conscious is clear, and I’m not ashamed of what I did, or I did to me…
“It bothers me sometimes, and I interview myself, and ask did I do the right thing? At the time it was the right thing. But now, I would probably do it again, so to speak. I’m still alive, aren’t I?”
Johnson justified his use of steroids by pointing out that the steroids didn't make him faster . They were only intended as “recovery drugs”. Furthermore, “most of [his] competitors” were also using steroids.
“It was brought to my attention that most of my competitors were on performance-enhancing drugs. As a kid, growing up, I thought there were no drugs in sport. As I got better and faster I was put in a corner where, you know, I was told these guys are taking drugs. I said yes at the time, it was my own doing, because I wanted to be the best I can be, and I did.
“As time goes by, I never point the finger at one who tested positive, because we were all in the same boat, to be the best we can, make some money. The sport is corrupt, dirty, and it’s going to keep going like that. No one can stop it.
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