LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Ben Johnson
built 646 days ago
Benjamin Sinclair "Ben" Johnson CM (born December 30, 1961) is a former Canadian sprinter who enjoyed a high-profile career during most of the 1980s, winning two Olympic Bronze medals, and an Olympic Gold which was subsequently rescinded. He set consecutive 100 m world records at the 1987 World Championships in Athletics and the 1988 Summer Olympics, but he was disqualified for doping, losing the Olympic title and both records.
Source:
Ben Johnson is a drummer, composer and music producer who has toured across Canada and in Europe with groups such as the Rembetika Hipsters, the Plaid-tongued Devils, and Klezmerovitz. As an independent percussionist Ben has performed with such artists as Dave Bidini, Jesse Cook, Kris Demeanor and ethnomusicologist Dr. Brita Heimarck.
Source:
Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson has entered the 1990s determined to rescue his tarnished reputation. For most of the 1980s Johnson was among the most famous and best-loved athletes in Canada and his long-standing feud with American runner Carl Lewis earned him great attention in the United States as well. Once an Olympic gold medalist and the fastest man on earth, Johnson was stripped of his honors for using anabolic steroids to enhance his performance. His downfall at the 1988 Olympic games--and his subsequent confession to years of steroid use--came as a blow to track fans worldwide. Maclean's contributor Bob Levin wrote: "[Johnson] was a rocket, a role model, a national hero.... To Canadians, he was never Johnson, just Ben....
Source:
His staying power was simple - Ben Johnson had a natural on-screen presence and was completely believable in his roles. His decency as a human being always came across. He never "went Hollywood". His closest friends remained cowboys and Hollywood people who could honestly sit a saddle.
Source:
Born in Oklahoma of Cherokee-Irish stock, Ben Johnson virtually grew up in the saddle. A champion rodeo rider in his teens, Johnson headed to Hollywood in 1940 to work as a horse wrangler on Howard Hughes' The Outlaw. He went on to double for Wild Bill Elliot and other western stars, then in 1947 was hired as Henry Fonda's riding double in director John Ford's Fort Apache (1948). Ford sensed star potential in the young, athletic, slow-speaking Johnson, casting him in the speaking role of Trooper Tyree in both She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950). In 1950, Ford co-starred Johnson with another of his protégés, Harry Carey Jr., in Wagonmaster (1950). Now regarded as a classic, Wagonmaster failed to register at the box office; perhaps as a result, full stardom would elude Johnson for over two decades.
Source:
In the finals of the 100-meter race at the 1988 Summer Olympics, Canadian runner Ben Johnson exploded out of the starting block, set a new world record, and won a gold medal. A drug test taken after the race... revealed his use of steroids. Three days later, Canada’s first Summer Olympic champion since 1932 was stripped of his medal and record and banned from most track competition for two years. This Toronto Sun article reveals the shock and disbelief of Canadians shortly after Johnson left Seoul, South Korea, in disgrace.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Ben Johnson