Olympic Games
History-1988
The Games Canada would sooner forget
Sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for steroids, just three days after he captured the heart of the nation by winning gold and shattering the world record in the Games' marquee event, the men's 100-metre race
Last Updated: Friday, August 7, 2009 | 2:47 PM ET
CBC Sports
Ben Johnson of Canada leads the field on his way to taking the 100m semi-final during the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. (Steve Powell/Getty Images)
The 1988 Seoul Olympics will forever be linked to one Canadian. Unfortunately.
Sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for steroids, just three days after he captured the heart of the nation by winning gold and shattering the world record in the Games' marquee event, the men's 100-metre race. Not only did he lose his gold medal to American Carl Lewis, but his record time of 9.79 seconds was also erased.
Johnson was not the first Olympian to be caught with performance enhancing drugs, but he was a tremendously popular athlete involved in the highest-profile event of the Olympics. Johnson's drug scandal stoked a media frenzy and gave rise to the Dubin Inquiry into steroid use by Canadian athletes. It also overshadowed a number of Canadian heroics at the Olympics.
Otherwise, a scandal-free Olympics
The Ben Johnson fiasco notwithstanding, the Seoul Olympics were relatively free of scandal, aside from a boxing tournament that appeared to be even more rigged by corrupt and otherwise incompetent judging than ever.Seoul also marked the first time in 26 years that the Summer Games were not tarnished by widespread boycotts. Neighbouring North Korea made overtures to host half of the Games, but was denied by the IOC. That sparked a boycott that fellow Communist state Cuba joined. But they were the only notable countries to pass on the Olympic invitation.
Given that Seoul lay close to the North Korean border and relations between the North and the South were so frosty, security was ramped up considerably. Armed personnel were on hand to ensure the Games were conducted without incident, and U.S. spy satellites monitored North Korean troops' every move.
South Korea was determined to be a gracious host, as the eyes of the world were fixed on it for 17 days, although some of its citizens might have other views on the subject. Measures went so far as to imprison people caught spitting on the street for 29 days. The organization of the Games proved to be virtually flawless and resulted in a record profit of $288 million (US).
Other records fell in the pool and on the track. East Germany's Kristin Otto won six gold medals in the swimming events, an Olympic record by a woman. The dominant male in the pool was American Matt Biondi, who won seven medals: five gold, one silver and one bronze.
Diver Greg Louganis would become the first man to repeat as double gold medallist in the platform and springboard events, despite hitting his head on the springboard. He bloodied the pool a bit, but underwent repairs and came back to post the win. It later came out that Louganis was HIV-positive at the time.
On the track, two American sisters-in-law proved successful. The late Florence Griffith-Joyner rewrote the women's sprinting record book with three golds in the 100 metres and 200m, and 4X100m relay. The flamboyant FloJo added a silver in the 4 x 400-metre relay. Her sister-in-law, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, won gold in the heptathlon and long jump.
Two sports were added to the Seoul Games. Tennis returned to the Olympic line-up after a 64-year absence and had a least one gold medallist with megastar appeal -- women's singles winner and Grand Slam champion Steffi Graf of Germany. Another racquet sport, table tennis, also made its debut.
Kristin Otto
Kristin Otto of East Germany waves to fans from the podium in Seoul after winning the 50-metre freestyle final, her sixth gold medal of the Olympics Games, clocking a new Olympic record of 25.49 sec. (Brian Smith/Getty Images) With a total of six gold medals, this East German swimmer became the most decorated women ever in a single Olympiad. The only person to have bettered this feat was Mark Spitz in 1972.
Having arrived in South Korea with an already impressive world resume, the East German swimmer was more than eager to make up for the medals she couldn't win in 1984 because of the boycott of the Eastern European countries at the Los Angeles Games.
Standing tall (1.85m), Otto was the favourite for the 100m freestyle gold. With a time of 54.93 secs, she beat China's Zhuang Yong (55.47) and France's Catherine Plewinski (55.49), a swimmer more known for the butterfly event.
With as much ease, Otto also won the 100m backstroke (1:00.89) ahead of Hungary's Krisztina Egerszegi (1:01.56) and her compatriot Cornelia Svich (1:01.57). An hour later she continued her winning form in the 4x100m freestyle.
The next day, she completed an extraordinary triple victory by winning the 100m butterfly following her successes in the freestyle and backstroke. In doing so, she established a new European record (59.00 seconds), beating her compatriot Birte Weigang and China's Qian Hong.
The 4x100m medley was a mere formality - with the East Germans coming in a full four seconds in front of their nearest opponents.
Finally, Otto grabbed her sixth medal of the Games in the 50m sprint event. Otto touched home in a time of 25.49 secs - a few centimetres ahead of China's Yang Wenyi (25.64) and two other swimmers whom the time judges were unable to separate, East Germany's Katrin Meissner and the American Jill Sterkel (25.71).
Otto's equal ease in the crawl, the backstroke and the butterfly led many people to label her the most complete swimmer of all time. At the same time, documents declassified in 1994 showed that she had also received large amounts of performance-enhancing substances, notably testosterone, administered by the East German sport medicine system. (AFP)
While the Ben Johnson scandal dominated the news from Seoul, a more positive and equally compelling Canadian story didn't get quite the same media attention. The actions of Canadian yachtsman Lawrence Lemieux, embodied the Olympic spirit envisioned by Pierre de Coubertin better than any medal victory.
Lemieux was in second place in his Finn class race when he stopped to rescue a Singaporean athlete who was in danger of drowning after his boat had capsized. Lemieux eventually crossed the line in 21st place, but was recognized by the IOC with a special award honouring his bravery and sacrifice.
The decathlon produced another act of courage for Canada. Dave Steen was out of a medal position through the first nine events, with the 1,500m still to be run. Steen finished the run with a great time and vaulted forward five spots to win the bronze in the most gruelling of track and field events.
In the squared circle, Lennox Lewis of Kitchener, Ont., who was then fighting for Canada, won the heavyweight division, becoming Canada's first Olympic boxing champion since 1932.
In the pool, Carolyn Waldo became one of Canada's rare double-gold medallists, when she captured two gold medals in synchronized swimming, one in the individual event and the other with partner Michelle Cameron in the duet.
