Fellow Olympian Says She And Johnson Took Steroids
Ben Johnson knowingly took steroids and those close close to the runner also were aware of it, fellow Canadian Olympic sprinter Angella Issajenko was quoted as saying in an interview published Sunday. Johnson _ stripped of his Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter final after he tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol _ also was taking steroids when he set a world sprint record last summer in Rome, the Toronto Star newspaper quoted Ms. Issajenko as saying. Ms. Issajenko, who also competed in the Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, was quoted as saying she also took the muscle-building drug. The Olympics, which began Sept. 17, ended Oct. 2. Later, her husband Tony said Ms. Issajenko denied saying she and Johnson took steroids. The Toronto Star said Sunday that it stood by its story. Ms. Issajenko previously accused a therapist of giving her and Johnson steroids without their knowledge but later retracted the statement. Ms. Issajenko in the interview claimed Dr. George Mario (Jamie) Astaphan provided steroids and monitored the program with the knowledge of Charlie Francis, coach of the Mazda Optimist Track Club, which she and Johnson belong to. ``I just don't care any more,'' Ms. Issajenko was quoted as saying. ``I'm fed up with all the bull. ... Ben takes steroids. I take steroids. Jamie (Astaphan) gives them to us and Charlie isn't a scientist but he knows what's happening.'' Johnson, 26, says he has never knowingly taken illegal drugs while Astaphan has said he has never administered stanozolol _ the banned steroid found in the runner's urine sample after his world record 100-meter run at the Olympics. Francis, meanwhile, has said the test result ``defies all logic'' and could only be explained ``by deliberate manipulation of the testing process.'' Ms. Issajenko, 30, was quoted as saying she had first-hand knowledge Johnson received steroids from Astaphan from 1984 to 1986 but ``Ben was going on his own to Jamie after that.'' She also said Astaphan was administering steroids to Johnson when he set a 9.83-second world record in the 100-metre sprint at the world championships in Rome. Johnson's Seoul run lowered that mark to 9.79 seconds. Ms. Issajenko, the Canadian 100- and 200-metre champion, said she has been threatened since she has come forward with her accusations against the Jamaican-born Johnson. After Johnson tested positive for steroids at the Olympics, Ms. Issajenko said therapist Waldemar Matuszewski had ``tampered'' with her and Johnson. Ms. Issajenko claimed the therapist had put anabolic steroids in the rubbing compound he used to massage their muscles. The story was called ``nonsense'' by Canadian Olympic track physician Dr. Robert Luba and Issajenko later retracted her charges against Matuszewski. The federal government has appointed Ontario Associate Chief Justice Charles Dubin to head a judicial inquiry into the Ben Johnson affair. Astaphan and Francis could not be immediately reached for comment.
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