Abstract:
US track and field officials said that Johnson should be stripped of his world record in the 100 meter dash. Johnson testified at a Canadian inquiry that he had been involved with illegal performance-enhancing drugs for seven years and had injections before he set the world record in the 1987 World Championship in Rome. His coach and physician had also testified at the inquiry. Carl Lewis said that while Johnson had not told the truth earlier, he was doing so now and speaking out against drugs and should be allowed back in the sport after he finishes his suspension.
Introduction:
Ben Johnson should be stripped of his world record in the 100-meter dash and it 
should be awarded to Carl Lewis, many U.S. track and field officials and 
athletes said Wednesday in the aftermath of Johnson admitting to his steroid 
use. 

Johnson testified this week at a Canadian inquiry that his seven-year 
involvement with illegal performance-enhancing drugs included injections before 
the 1987 World Championships in Rome, where he set the existing world record of 
9.83 seconds. 

"I would have to see the evidence, but if he was on drugs at the time of the 
World Championships, my thought would be to remove his record," said Ollan 
Cassell, executive director of The Athletics Congress, the national governing 
board for the sport. 

Cassell is also a vice president of the International Amateur Athletic 
Federation, the world governing organization. 

The possibility that Johnson could lose his record was raised when the IAAF 
asked for "an urgent legal opinion" to see what it could do about records and 
championships of confessed drug users. 

The issue would be decided at the IAAF Congress, scheduled for Barcelona, 
Spain, in September. 

"The . . . actions would allow the IAAF, if it so decided, retroactively to 
withdraw results obtained and any records achieved by such athletes," the 
statement said. 

It was not clear, however, whether any action taken by the congress would 
affect Johnson's world mark because effective dates of retroactive sanctions 
would have to be worked out. 

Frank Greenberg, TAC president, said: "We'll wait to see what Canada does," 
following the country's inquiry at which 40 persons, among them Johnson, his 
coach, Charlie Francis, and his physician, Jamie Astaphan, testified. 

"I feel we will do our best to advocate that our athlete, Carl Lewis, gets the 
world record," Greenberg said. 

Lewis has the second-fastest legal time in history, 9.92, in finishing second 
to Johnson at last year's Seoul Olympics. Johnson, who clocked 9.79 in that 
race, lost the record and his gold medal, and was barred from competition for 
two years after testing positive for an anabolic steroid. 

There was much discussion among athletes competing this week in the TAC 
Championships about whether Johnson should be allowed back into the sport after 
he completes his two-year suspension. 

Lewis thinks he should. 

"He went a long time without telling the truth, but he broke down and he has 
told the truth," said Lewis, a six-time Olympic gold medalist. "He is giving us 
an opportunity to believe him, to support him. 

"I even heard him speaking out against drugs and that's the important thing." 

Al Joyner, the 1984 Olympic gold medalist in the triple jump, said Johnson 
should be allowed to compete again, only because that is the rule. 

"But all his records should be taken because he admitted it," Joyner added. 

"He killed a lot of fans . . . a lot of young kids . . . and he almost killed 
our sport . . . he put a dark shadow over it . . . because of who he was," 
Joyner said. 

Sprinter Harvey Glance, a three-time Olympian and president of TAC's Athletes 
Advisory Committee, said Johnson should be allowed to return after two years. 

"But if he admits he was on anything (when he set the record), then it should 
go to the next person, Carl Lewis," Glance said. 

"Only the records will show it and only Ben knows." 

Johnson was tested after his world-record run in Rome, but the results were 
negative. 

