TORONTO: The agent for U.S. track star Carl Lewis was quoted as saying he was approached by a representative of disgraced Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson about the possibility of a big money match race between the rivals.
‘Agent Joe Douglas said in a telephone interview published in the Toronto Star on Thursday that he recently received a call from one of Johnson’s advisors to determine if Lewis would be willing to meet Johnson in an unsanctioned event.
Johnson was stripped of his 100 meters Olympic Gold Medal and banned from competition for two years after he tested positive for the muscle building anabolic steroid stanozolol at this summer’s Seoul Olympic Games.
Though Douglas said the chances of a match race being held were extremely remote, he did not entirely rule out the possibility.
“There’s a lot more than money involved,” Douglas told the newspaper from his Los Angeles office. “It will take a lot more people to say “Yes” than just Ben and Carl.
Douglas said Lewis would not consider participating if his status with the international Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) the International governing body of track and field, would be affected,
Under the rules of his ban, Johnson cannot compete in any IAAF-sanctioned event or against any athlete in good standing with the international federation.
“It would have to be a situation where Carl would not be contaminated,” said Douglas. “If it could be done, we’d have to look seriously at it. But I don’t see how it could be done.”
Article extracted from this publication >> November 18, 1988
