Ben Johnson apologized to Canadians again and...

Ben Johnson apologized to Canadians again and said he hopes it’s for the last time.

“I said I’m sorry. What else can I say?” the sprinter asked in the same Sutton Place Hotel in downtown Toronto where he held his last news conference nearly two years ago. At that time, he denied that he had taken the steroids found in his system during the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

“I lied and I’ve admitted it; life goes on,” said Johnson, who promised to compete again free of drugs. “I was born to run. That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.”

He said he hopes the Canadian government will accept one of the major recommendations by Ontario Chief Justice Charles Dubin--that Johnson’s eligibility to run for Canada be left to the sports’ bureaucrats, who have already given him their blessing to race again in September.

The government imposed a lifetime ban against Johnson competing for Canada but said it will respond to Dubin’s recommendations by this fall, when the sprinter’s two-year ban on international competition ends.

Johnson said he thinks he has apologized enough to Canadians.

“Do you want me to drop down, kiss their feet and say, ‘I’m sorry’?” Johnson asked. “I just want to come back clean, set a few records and beat Carl Lewis,” Johnson said.

At a separate Toronto news conference, Carol Anne Letheren, president of the Canadian Olympic Assn., said the organization would not stand in the way of Johnson’s return in time for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

“If Ben is prepared right now to come back clean, and he’s determined to run as one of our athletes,” she said, “then he’s welcome once the sanctions are lifted.”