Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson did not jump...

Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson did not jump the starting gun when he set his 100-meter world record in last year’s World Championships at Rome, the track and field governing body said after completing a review of the race.

Johnson’s 9.83-second time, which clipped .10 of a second off the previous world mark, was attacked by some as resulting from a false start.

The International Amateur Athletic Federation said in a statement that under IAAF rules the starter “shall be the sole judge of any fact connected with the start of the race.

“The start in Rome was adjudged fair by the starter, therefore according to the rules, it was a fair start,” the statement said.

The IAAF statement added: “As a matter of interest, an independently produced scientific project report, which took into account slow-motion films and videos of the event, concluded that the starter’s decision was correct and the start was fair.