Paper Says Johnson, Lewis to Run 100 Meters

Ben Johnson and Carl Lewis will meet on Sept. 25 in a $3.2-million rematch of their Olympic 100-meter final two days after Johnson’s suspension for drug use expires, according to a published report.

The Daily Express of London said U.S. boxing promoter Bob Arum was lining up the race, scheduled to be run in Barcelona, Spain.

“I don’t know how news of this got out,” the newspaper quoted Arum as saying. “There is a lot of money riding on it. I am not prepared to make any other comment.”

Arum told the Associated Press: “People have talked to me about it--period. But it’s so premature now it’s almost laughable.”

Johnson beat Lewis with a world-record time of 9.79 seconds on Sept. 24, 1988, in the Olympic final at Seoul. But two days later, he was stripped of the gold medal and the record after testing positive for steroids.

Johnson also was suspended for two years by the International Amateur Athletic Federation. He will be eligible to compete internationally next September.

Barcelona is the site of the next Olympics, and Johnson has said since admitting to steroid use that he wanted to run in the 1992 Games. Olympic officials have said he would be eligible.

But it is unclear whether he would compete for Canada, where he lives, or his native Jamaica.