Ben Johnson Accepts Blame for Steroid Use

TORONTO —  In an apparent attempt to win back the hearts of the Canadian people, Ben Johnson delivered an emotional mea culpa here Tuesday, accepting full responsibility for eight years of anabolic steroid use and advising young athletes that they should not cheat.

After testifying Monday that he had simply followed orders from his coach when he began taking steroids and other banned performance-enhancing substances in the early 1980s, Johnson told the Canadian government’s commission of inquiry into drug use that he would accept the blame.

As tears welled in his eyes, Johnson was asked by his attorney, Ed Futerman, if he had a message for young athletes who had admired him before he tested positive in the 1988 Summer Olympics at Seoul for an anabolic steroid, forfeiting the gold medal he won in the 100 meters.

“I want to tell them to be honest and don’t take drugs,” Johnson said on his second and final day on the witness stand. “It happened to me. I’ve been there. I know what it’s like to cheat.

“I’ve got four nephews, one who might be in track and field. I warn them not to take drugs. If anyone wants to give them to you, tell your parents, your families.”

Futerman asked his client only 10 questions, all of which seemed intended to create a favorable impression of Johnson. A positive public reaction could be a significant factor in the federal government’s decision whether to allow him to compete again for Canada.

According to International Amateur Athletic Federation rules, Johnson, 27, can return to competition on Sept. 24, 1990, two years after his positive drug test at Seoul.

But Canada’s sports minister, Jean Charest, has banned him for life from representing the country in major events such as the Olympics and the World Championships.

Charest said that he might lift the ban if it was recommended by the inquiry’s commissioner, Charles L. Dubin, Ontario associate chief justice. There has been speculation that Charest, a politician, might also be swayed by public opinion.

After hearing Johnson’s testimony, Charest told the Associated Press that Johnson “showed a lot of courage, and I think that Canadians all across the country will be impressed by that courage and the fact that he was frank.”

Johnson, in responding to questions Tuesday by the commission’s co-counsel, Robert P. Armstrong, said he believes he will be allowed to compete again for Canada and that he again will prove he is the world’s fastest man, this time without drugs.

“If I get a chance to compete again, I want to say that drugs don’t make you run faster and that Ben Johnson can beat anybody in the world . . . if I get a chance,” he said.

Leaving the hearing room after two days on the witness stand, Johnson had to pass through a gantlet of reporters. About 200 from 12 countries were present for his testimony at the downtown office building that was rented for the inquiry. He seemed relieved to be answering their questions instead of those from attorneys.

“I’m happy everything is over and that I told the truth and I’d like to run for the country,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen, then that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

After admitting Monday that he had used steroids from the time his coach, Charlie Francis, introduced them to him in the early 1980s through 1986, Johnson said Tuesday that he also had used steroids during training for the 1987 World Championships at Rome, where he set his existing world record of 9.83, and the 1988 Summer Olympics.

He corroborated earlier testimony by his doctor, Jamie Astaphan, that he had received a steroid injection 27 days before the 100-meter final at Seoul on Sept. 24. He said the doctor had given him the injection despite cautioning him earlier against taking the steroid within 28 days of a competition that would include drug testing.

Johnson’s adviser, Kameel Azan, told reporters Tuesday that Astaphan panicked after the sprinter had finished third in two European meets a month before the Summer Olympics.

“It’s obvious that they were in too close,” he said.

But Johnson shed no new light on the mystery of where he acquired the steroid, stanozolol, that was discovered in his system at Seoul. Astaphan said he had given the sprinter a different steroid, furazobol. Previous evidence, however, indicates that Astaphan actually gave Johnson stanozolol but called it by a different name.

“Ben doesn’t know,” Futerman told reporters.

Whatever steroid was contained in the injections, Johnson testified that he destroyed his lone remaining bottle of the milky white substance upon returning to his suburban Toronto home from Seoul.

“I smashed it against the wall and threw it in the garbage,” he said.

A few days later, Johnson delivered a public statement that he “never, ever knowingly” had used banned substances.

Armstrong asked Johnson Tuesday about his reason for making that statement.

“Because I lied,” he said. “I was ashamed for my family and friends and kids who looked up to me as a Canadian athlete and wanted to be in my position. I was just in a mess.”

Johnson’s acknowledgement could cost him his world record. Even before Johnson’s testimony, Cecil Smith, executive director of the Ontario Track and Field Assn., said he will urge the IAAF to have the record removed if it can be proved he used banned drugs before that 1987 performance.

Frank Greenberg, president of The Athletics Congress, said a proposal could be made in September at the IAAF Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

John Holt, IAAF secretary general, has said an asterisk might be placed next to the record.