Athletics-Johnson's rise and fall still casts long shadow

LONDON (Reuters) - A few weeks before the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, Ben Johnson's race against Carl Lewis over 100 metres in Zurich was one of the most eagerly awaited sporting events of the year.

Two decades later the three fastest men on the track, Jamaicans Usain Bolt and Asafa Powell and American Tyson Gay, race in London this weekend also only weeks before an Olympic Games.

But in total contrast to the days when track and field still entranced the sporting world, it is no exaggeration to say that the only people excited by their visit to Crystal Palace are true athletics fans.

The reason is the legacy of the Seoul Olympic 100 metres final when Johnson defeated Lewis in world record time and then tested positive for drugs.

In 1988, the world's media were captivated by the intense rivalry between Johnson, the Jamaican-born Canadian world champion and record holder, and Lewis, his adversary from the the United States.

Lewis, the defending Olympic champion, had not only lost his world title to Johnson in the previous year but had also alleged, quite rightly as it turned out, that Johnson was a drugs cheat.

Their meeting in Zurich was the first time they had raced since Johnson had beaten Lewis in Rome and was hailed as the equivalent of a world heavyweight boxing fight.

They were among the best known sportsmen in the world, their fortunes secured by lucrative advertising endoresements, and their faces were on the front as well as the back pages of newspapers everywhere.

WORLD COLLAPSES

The race in Zurich, on Aug. 17, was broadcast live to millions around the world. Hundreds of journalists were packed into the old Letzigrund Stadium and the race had been analysed in previews for weeks.

Lewis, as he often did, trailed at 70 metres and then soared to victory, eclipsing Johnson a metre from the line. He was immediately installed in popular opinion as the favourite to retain the Olympic gold he had won in Los Angeles in 1984.

Johnson disappeared to regroup for Seoul. But his regime included ingesting the banned steroid stanozolol and three days after beating Lewis in Seoul, the Canadian's world collapsed when he tested positive.

The harm Johnson, and later world record holders and banned drug cheats Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin did to the sport remains.

Bolt is the current world 100 metres record holder, having lowered Powell's mark of 9.74 seconds to 9.72 at the end of May while Gay is the current world 100 champion.

Gay says he is looking forward to racing against Powell, while Bolt will be running in the 200 metres. Their preparations for Beijing do not attract global attention any more and millions around the world will not be watching on television.

Shortly before the Zurich race, Johnson said: "Things are going smoothly for me now. Losing is a possibility in Seoul. But I will make sure that won't happen."

Johnson did not lose the race. But he lost the gold medal and his reputation and his sport lost its credibility on the world's biggest stage.

(Editing by John Mehaffey)