Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson stunned the world at the 1988 Seoul Games, when he won the 100-m Olympic title in a world-record time of 9.79 seconds. Making the victory even sweeter for his fellow Canadian citizens, his win came at the expense of loudmouthed American rival Carl Lewis. But Johnson clearly didn’t lack in confidence either, stating that “this world record will last 50 years, maybe 100.”
In fact, it lasted fewer than three days, as Johnson tested positive for the anabolic steroid stanozolol and was disqualified on Sept. 27. While he claimed it must have come from a spiked herbal drink he’d had the night before the race, Johnson was stripped of his gold medal and the world record and banned from competition for two years. Almost 15 years on, it transpired in 2003 that several American athletes had also tested positive for drugs before the Seoul Games.