Come what may, cheating in Olympic Games is going to stay fo

Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson remains for most people the incarnation of cheating even if countless sportsmen before and since have flouted the laws just as blatantly.

Johnson had produced the defining performance of the Seoul Olympics in 1988 by blitzing rivals, including Carl Lewis and Linford Christie, to pick up gold in the 100m in an astonishing World record time of 9.79sec.

When Jamaican-born Johnson was asked about whether he valued his new record since stricken from the record books or the gold medal he uttered the fateful words: “The medal because no-one can take it away from me.”

How wrong he was. When this news agency exclusively revealed to the World at 03:53am local time (17:53 GMT) that Johnson had been stripped of the gold medal after testing positive for stanozolol some would not believe it until the news was confirmed in a press conference the following morning.

Johnson, whose medal had been confiscated in a visit to his room in the early hours of the morning by Olympic and Canadian team chiefs, exchanged his place in the Olympic version of the Elysian Fields for everlasting sporting notoriety.

The memory of a bewildered-looking Johnson being escorted through the departure lounge in Seoul airport by a phalanx of policemen and bodyguards amid the flashing lightbulbs of photographers remains defining image of Olympic wrongdoing.

In fairness to Johnson many athletes British sprinter Linford Christie and Irish swimmer Michelle Smith are just two have kept their gold medals despite doping misconduct outside Olympic competition.

And in truth cheating despite founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin’s Olympics lofty ideals has always been part and parcel of the Olympics.

Legendary American Jim Thorpe was stripped of gold medals he won in Stockholm in 1912 when it was discovered that he had once been paid for playing baseball a contravention of the strict amateur standards of the day.

But doping has always been part of the Games although doping tests were not introduced until the 1968 Games in Mexico City.

Swedish pentathlete Hans-Gunnar Liljenvall became the first athlete to test positive in those Games for alcohol.

In all 53 athletes have been punished for offences at Olympic Games since 1968 although five have subsequently won appeals.

But doping is by no means the only way that athletes have sought to illegally influence the outcome of a sporting event at the Olympics.

A Soviet named Boris Onischenko gave fencing an expected place in the spotlight in the Montreal Olympics.

Onischenko’s opponents were perplexed when the Soviet was credited with a hit when making no contact and demanded that referees inspect his opponent’s equipment. A bug was found on the handle of his sword that allowed him to trigger off the electronic scoring system at will.

The Olympic swimming pool was the scene of further allegations of shenanigans in Rome in 1960 when two of three judges awarded gold to Australian John Devitt and the other to American Lance Larson.

But the three judges who were supposed to determine second place were also split with two believing Devitt had come second behind Larson.

That meant of the six judges the verdict was split evenly 3-3. The official time showed Larson had finished in 52.1 sec while Devitt had posted 52.2 but the chief judge decided to change these times and despite photographic evidence that Larson had touched first awarded the race to the Australian.

In the 1904 marathon Fred Lorz of America was just about to be presented with his gold medal when a photograph taken by Alice Roosevelt daughter of serving US President Theodore showed Lorz being given a lift he was disqualified and victory awarded to compatriot Thomas Hicks.

The boxing ring has been the venue for many a dubious decision and so tainted has the amateur version of the noble art of pugilism become that many believe Sydney will be the Olympic swansong for the sport.

Boxing may be heading for Olympic oblivion but one thing is certain. Cheating is here to stay.