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In honour of Father’s Day – Canadian Sports Heroes: Ben Johnson
July 10, 2025 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm EDT
Mary Ormsby on her book World’s Fastest Man* The Incredible Life of Ben Johnson
Several themes in the book — based on the men’s 100-metre final at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games — have resonance in 2024.
The Ben Johnson story touches on thorny issues that remain embedded in world-class sports today: Cheating, punishment, selective justice, enabling athletes’ rights, fair play, racism, role of governments and the seemingly hopeless task of preventing athletes from using banned performance enhancing drugs.
In Mary Ormsby’s book, Johnson is portrayed as a polarizing figure in sport but is also humanized as a man who, despite his admissions of drug use, may have been a fall guy for his generation of elite sprinters.
The central question in her book: Is it possible to railroad a guilty man? It’s a question that touches on athlete accountability, historic injustice and how Canada failed its greatest athlete when he was most vulnerable.
In the series:
Jun. 5: Phillippa Baran on her book Toller Cranston
Jun. 12: Ronnie Shuker speaking on his new book The country and the Game
Jul. 10: Mary Ormsby on her book World’s Fastest Man* The Incredible Life of Ben Johnson
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