JOHNSON SECOND IN FIRST RACE SINCE BAN
His time of 5.77 seconds was eclipsed by the 5.75-second time of Daron Council, a former narcotics officer who now works in crime prevention for the Alachua County, Fla., sheriff's department.;    The brief race produced a record crowd of 17,050 and drew nearly 500 journalists from 14 countries in North America, Europe and Asia.;    They were attracted by the return of Johnson, whose day of infamy, Sept. 24, 1988, has assured him a millennium of fame.;    He would merely have been a gold medalist if a positive test at the 1988 Olympics had not turned him into the most vilified champion in the history of the Games. It also led to the two-year suspension from the sport that made an epic event of Johnson's race Friday.;    Johnson got off to an uncharacteristically slow start and finished second by a few inches to Council.;    "I got caught in the blocks," Johnson said.;    By then, the start had been delayed eight minutes by two false starts and a problem with the board track.;    Johnson took his second-place finish in stride. "I think it was a success," Johnson said. "There was a lot of pressure on me because it was my first race back, and it was hard to concentrate on the race with the way the fans were yelling for me.";    It was Johnson's first indoor loss in 11 meets dating to February 1987. His time was far from the 5.55 he ran in 1987 that is still listed as the fastest ever at 50 meters.;    "I'm in very good shape, but I'm not in racing shape," Johnson said as he was escorted to drug testing, for which he was randomly selected.;    It was a different-looking Johnson than the one who had bolted to apparent victory in the Olympics.;    This Johnson wasn't as bulky in the upper body, nor was his face as puffy.;    Despite Johnson's trimness, he said he weighed the same -- 174 pounds -- and was lifting the same amount of weight -- bench-pressing 365 pounds -- as before his two-year suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing steroid.;    "People are saying I'm smaller," Johnson said before the race. "Size doesn't matter. It's how fast you run . . . it's speed.";    When he was introduced before the race, Johnson was given a thunderous standing ovation. When the race ended, the fans thought he had won and broke into loud cheering.;    Banners welcoming him back were draped around the arena. One said, "Ben Knows Track and Field -- Just Do It, Ben." Another said, "Go Ben Go!" and a third read, "Burn Rubber, Ben."
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