Coach: Johnson Pre-Olympics Steroid User

Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson took a banned anabolic steroid 21 days prior to his failed Olympic drug test, but not the one he tested positive for after winning the 100 meters, his coach told a Canadian government inquiry today.

Testifying under oath for a fourth day in the inquiry into drug use in amateur sports, Charlie Francis was asked whether some of his athletes were on a steroids program prior to the Seoul Games in September.

“Yes, they were. Ben Johnson, Angella Issajenko, Mark McKoy, Tracy Smith and Desai Williams,” he said, adding the drug program was designed by Dr. Mario (Jamie) Astaphan.

“He (Astaphan) was very concerned with the soreness in (Johnson’s) tendon and felt this would help heal the injury and speed up the recovery process,” Francis said.

Different Steroid

Francis said the steroid Johnson took on Sept. 2, the last he took before the Olympics, was furazabol, not stanozolol, the steroid that was allegedly found in his urine at Seoul. Francis said he did not believe Johnson received any steroids between the time the sprinter left Canada on Sept. 6 up to the day of his race in Seoul on Sept. 23.

Johnson was stripped of his Olympic 100-meter gold medal after testing positive for the banned drug.

Francis conceded it was risky for the athletes to be taking banned drugs so close to the Seoul Games and a pre-Olympic competition in Tokyo on Sept. 14.

“It was a little unusual as to the time of year to give them that many injections. But in light of the fact Dr. Astaphan had been on the money in terms of recommendations before I felt it was an acceptable program,” he said. Francis has testified that Astaphan had received $10,000 a month to help Johnson prepare for the biggest race of his career.

The coach said his athletes also took diuretics to help minimize the possibility of detection.

Francis said Johnson, who has repeatedly denied he knowingly took steroids, had a “page of instructions as to what he was going to take on each day provided by Dr. Astaphan.”

The coach said Johnson began using a variety of steroids, which were usually taken for 14 weeks a year, beginning in 1981.