Lewis rejects demand to return Olympic gold

LOS ANGELES: Carl Lewis dismissed a demand by the manager of former Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson to give back his 1988 Olympic gold medal in the 100 metres, saying it was unrealistic.

“It’s ridiculous, who cares?” Lewis said on Tuesday. I did 18 years of track and field and I’ve been retired five years, and they’re still talking about me, so I guess I still have it.” Johnson’s manager and attorney, Morris Chrobotek, told the Sydney Morning Herald last week that he plans legal action in response to documents purporting to show that Lewis and other US athletes were allowed to compete at the 1988 Seoul Olympics after failing drug tests. “So he’s going to sue hundreds of people? Would you expect him to say anything different?” Lewis asked. “It’s a dead issue, it really is.” Lewis was declared the winner in the 100 metres when Johnson was stripped of his gold medal and world record after testing positive for a banned steroid. Lewis also won the long jump and finished his career with nine Olympic golds.

Dr Wade Exum, the US Olympic Committee’s director for drug control from 1991, released more than 30,000 pages of documents to Sports Illustrated last week that he says show Lewis, tennis player Mary Joe Fernandez and others tested positive but were still allowed to compete in Seoul. The Orange County Register published a similar report based on documents it obtained. “The only thing I can say is I think it’s unfortunate what Wade Exum is trying to do,” Lewis said after an appearance at the University of Southern California. The USOC has called Exum’s accusations baseless.  Exum said Lewis tested positive three times at the 1988 Olympic trials for small amounts of banned stimulants found in cold medications. The USOC first disqualified Lewis, then reversed itself after he appealed, claiming inadvertent use. “I don’t know what people are trying to make out of nothing because everyone was treated the same, so what are we talking about? I don’t get it,” Lewis said. He said a different climate existed in drug testing in 1988.