IN BRIEF : 3rd Witness Says Johnson Knew He Was Getting Steroid Injections

Another witness said today that he injected Ben Johnson with steroids and the sprinter knew he was getting the banned muscle-building drugs.

Tony Issajenko, following his wife, Angella, to the stand at a federal inquiry, testified that he injected Johnson with steroids at a 1984 training camp on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.

Asked if Johnson knew he was getting steroids, Tony Issajenko said: “I had no doubts that he knew.”

Angella Issajenko and coach Charlie Francis testified previously that they injected Johnson with steroids and he knew what was in the syringe. Johnson, who has yet to testify at the inquiry sparked by his failed drug test at last year’s Seoul Olympics, has said he never knowingly took banned drugs.

Tony Issajenko, who said he used anabolic steroids before he retired as a sprinter and got married in 1985, said he also injected his wife and sprinter Tony Sharpe with anabolic steroids in Guadeloupe.

Angella Issajenko, the first track star to appear, corroborated much of the testimony given by Francis in eight days of testimony that ended last Friday.

Each said Johnson began taking banned steroids during the early 1980s and used the muscle-building drugs in training until he won the gold medal that was taken from him at Seoul.