February 7, 2003

GOOD TIME CHARLIE’S GOT THE BLUES

       Poor Charlie Francis.  After fifteen years of denying any wrongdoing in the Ben Johnson affair Francis finally admitted that he shouldn’t have convinced Johnson to take those performance-enhancing steroids.  What caused this reversal?  Francis had hooked up with American sprint star Marion Jones and said that he saw how incredibly she ran without drugs.  Of course there was also a little thing called job security since heavy pressure was being placed upon Jones and fellow sprinter Tim Montgomery to dump the Mephistopheles of track and field.  Contrition is a wonderful thing and it usually makes the rest of us go soft in the belly but fifteen years later, and with an agenda to keep, it’s hard to accept his words as ingenuous.   

      At the time of the Dubin Inquiry, organized to weed out the drug culture from amateur sports, Francis insisted that the only way to keep up with the stronger nations of the world was to use steroids.  Everybody was doing it—he said.  But the picture of Johnson being led away from the Olympics after having his gold medal stripped is ingrained in the memory of all who were witness to the event.  A few days before Johnson had given every Canadian a sense of pride and accomplishment by setting the world record and beating loudmouth Carl Lewis to the finish line.  Canadians had to endure even more ignominy when Lewis found a pulpit and criticized the Canadian for his actions.  It figured that enhancements had to be used to beat him.  It’s too bad Lewis was never caught using enhancements—even though there were rumours abounding that he did.  The Americans were just much better at hiding it.  Francis believed that all of Johnson’s competitors were using and Johnson was willing to be the folly.

       It is unfortunate for Francis that he was a part of the biggest drug scandal in Olympic history.  Drugs have been a part of the athletic scene for years now, many more athletes have been either suspended or banned for their usage, but the Johnson affair remains the light by which all others are judged.  Francis will never be able to live his part down.  He will never be able to walk on a track and not hear the whispers or feel the disgrace; he will never be able to work with another track star without having to answer questions of his involvement with steroids.  He will always have to carry the weight of Ben Johnson with him; he will always have the suspended sprinter strapped to his waist. 

       He has only recently tried to distance himself from his previous convictions.  As recent as the 2000 Olympics Francis said it would be easy to spot that those who ran clean, they would be the losers.  Now, after having watched Jones and Montgomery, he is convinced that a clean athlete can be a winner.  Does this mean that Lewis actually was clean?  Were the rumours of his drug involvement false? Were they started simply because his personality was so vitriolic that only his closest friends and family members could root for him?  Was it all just a ruse so Francis could convince Johnson that in order to win he would need the steroids?  Lewis was never caught so it must be assumed that he ran clean. 

       Francis admits that he was wrong to convince Johnson to take the steroids.  He’s not sure whether Johnson would have ever won without them, but in the end Johnson didn’t win with them either.  As for Francis’ latest attempt to return to the track, the IIAF let it be know that they would have a problem with Jones and Montgomery if they continued to have Francis around.  The sprinters said he was only being used as a consultant, but that was still too close an association for the Association.  In the end Francis’ history was too problematic for the sprinters.

       Good time Charlie got the boot.