Loss Of Johnson's Gold Wounds Canadian Pride
The stripping of Ben Johnson's Olympic gold medal in a drug scandal has wounded Canadian pride and shamed a nation hungry for a hero to replace hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky. ``It's like Wayne Gretzky getting run over by a car,'' said Pat Reid, the Canadian high-jump coach. The spirit of a nation raced with Johnson when he won the gold medal in the 100 meters on Saturday with a world record time of 9.79 seconds. The euphoria was dashed when Johnson tested positive for stanzolol, a muscle-building steroid outlawed by Olympic officials. He was stripped of the medal Tuesday. Dr. George Astaphan, Johnson's personal physician, and Larry Heidebrecht, Johnson's agent, insisted the sprinter had not taken stanzolol. ``The only thing we can say is that it is a tragedy, a mistake or sabotage,'' Heidebrecht said. Johnson, a 26-year-old Jamaican transplant, waved the Canadian flag in triumph and dedicated his gold to his mother and all Canadian citizens. He returned home with a jacket over his head, hurdling a hedge to duck reporters after flying home from New York in the seclusion of a jet cockpit. It was unheroic conduct for the world's fastest human, who had been awarded the Order of Canada and a medal from Queen Elizabeth at the Commonwealth Games. Johnson's disgrace was heralded in Canadian headlines such as ``Fool's Gold,'' ``Black Day For Canada,'' ``Seconds Of Glory, Years Of Shame,'' ``From Fame To Shame,'' and ``Big Ben is Now Has-Ben.'' ``We're feeling low. Some of us don't want to accept what happened,'' said John Furedy, a psychologist at the University of Toronto, in assessing the mational psyche. ``We all share some of the responsibility in the sense that we put such tremendous pressure on these people,'' Furedy said. Trent Frayne, sports columnist for the Globe and Mail of Toronto, said Johnson's victory was the biggest event in Canada since a national team beat the Soviet Union in a seven-game hockey series in 1972. The drug scandal brought the same sickening feeling to the nation as did Gretzky's trade to the Los Angeles Kings. ``There was enormous exhilaration. Then 72 hours later, there was this roller coaster ride to the bottom,'' Frayne said. ``The Ben Johnson episode is a tragedy of shocking proportions.'' ``It's as if an entire country has gone into a period of national mourning on his behalf,'' wrote columnist John Robertson of the Toronto Star. Canadian youth took the news hard. ``We look up to the guy. I guess we don't look up to him anymore,'' said Craig Brown, 13, of Toronto. ``He's letting all his fans down. He let Canada down,'' said Donny Clarke, 12. Canada has always tried to escape the influence of the United States, where its dollar is worth 80 cents. Now it has forfeited its only gold medal of the Olympics. ``He has left Canadians hanging their heads in shame,'' wrote the Corner Brook Western Star. ``He tarnished the name and reputation of Canada and let its people down,'' said the Fredickton Gleaner. But columnist Gary Lautens of the Toronto Star said the nation should not cover its head in shame. ``What Johnson did was wrong. It's cheating. It's believing the end justifies the means, it's looking for an unfair edge,'' Lautens said. ``But it is also just a foot race. It's time somebody reminded us nobody tried to peddle arms for hostages, nobody shot down a civilian airliner, nobody booby-trapped a home.''
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