A Book of Heroes by Simon Barnes

Author:Simon Barnes
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781907595295
Publisher: Short Books
Published: 2010-12-13T21:00:00+00:00

28. Ben Johnson

BEN JOHNSON WAS THE lightning streak at noon and the thunderbolt in the dead of night. I was at my first Olympic Games, in Seoul in 1988, the lowliest member of Team Times in every opinion save my own, squeezing onto the plane thanks to a late change of heart from Tom Clarke, the sports editor. I was just one – but probably the most awe-struck – of 10,000 or so journalists chronicling the doings of 10,000 or so athletes. I had never seen sport on such a scale. In the preliminaries, before the Opening Ceremony, I attended ferocious massed press conferences for Carl Lewis, the aloof, self-regarding American sprinter who had won four gold medals at the previous Games in Los Angeles, and for Florence Griffith-Joyner, who had set a new world record for the 100 metres at the United States Olympic Trials. As soon as the action began, I got involved with the Great Britain hockey team. And I filled in everywhere I could. I was fascinated by the scale of the Games, but more than that, by the meaning of the Games. This was not something I had considered before. The Olympic Games are about a single chance. At the very best, one chance in four years: for most, it comes down to one chance in a lifetime. Everywhere you went, everywhere you looked, you could witness people having the most important day of their lives: the day for which all other days had been a preparation. In the midst of the Games, unrolling and unfolding before me, I understood at last what the Games were all about.

The final of the men’s 100 metres took place on Saturday. It was to start at noon, an hour chosen with the prime-time of the eastern United States firmly in mind. It was an unforgiving day, the sun striking down like a hammer, the flashbulb light that never for one instant blinked. I resolved to go, in the belief that such experiences were good for a fledgling sportswriter. I had not been asked to write about the race for Monday’s paper, but I thought there might be times when I would write about this race in the future. It was one of the defining experiences of my sporting life.

I remember the glowing red of the track. I remember meeting my old friend, the sportswriter Pete Nicholls. “Lewis,” I said. “Carl Lewis, for me.” “Nah,” said Pete. “Johnson’ll win if he doesn’t break down.”

Ben Johnson. The Canadian sprinter who had trailed behind Lewis for some years – and then improved dramatically. He won a bronze behind Lewis at the Olympic Games in L.A. in 1984, failed to make the semis in the World Championships the following year, but in 1987, he broke the world record, 9.83 seconds. Then, in February 1988, he injured a hamstring, and injured it again in May. One chance. Had he already missed it? He was, Pete believed, ready either to win or to fall apart in trying.

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