Lord Coe: ‘Doping scandal as bad as Ben Johnson case’

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Worried … Lord Coe says the current doping allegations surrounding athletics could be as bad as the cases of Ben Johnson and Marion Jones.

“In the 40 years I have been involved in athletics, there have been big moments — Ben Johnson, Marion Jones,” the British middle-distance great told the BBC.

“This is up there.”

The sport’s governing body is investigating allegations by a German TV station of a cover-up of systematic doping in Russia.

Jamaican-born Canadian Ben Johnson won the 100m final in world record time at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He was banned for two years in Seoul after testing positive for the steroid stanolozol shortly after winning. Johnson made a comeback in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympics, only to test positive again a year later, this time for testosterone, incurring a lifetime ban.

Jamaican-born Canadian Ben Johnson won the 100m final in world record time at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. He was banned for two years in Seoul after testing positive for the steroid stanolozol shortly after winning. Johnson made a comeback in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympics, only to test positive again a year later, this time for testosterone, incurring a lifetime ban.

 

American athlete Marion Jones holds up her five Olympic medals for track and field events outside Sydney's Opera House in Australia. The IOC formally stripped Marion Jones of her five Olympic medals, wiping her name from the record books following her admission that she was a drug cheat.

American athlete Marion Jones holds up her five Olympic medals for track and field events outside Sydney’s Opera House in Australia. The IOC formally stripped Marion Jones of her five Olympic medals, wiping her name from the record books following her admission that she was a drug cheat.

Two IAAF officials have stepped down while the investigation takes place.

“It’s been described as a bad week for athletics,” said Coe, who recently declared his candidacy to become president of the IAAF.

“I would go further, it’s been a ghastly week.

“None of us should hide or shy away from that. We have to bring this tawdry, sorry episode and any of those allegations to a close as quickly as we can.”

Johnson failed a doping test after winning the 100 metres at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

Jones was stripped of five Olympic gold medals in 2007 after admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs in her career.

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