I recently wrote a slideshow article listing 10 bad moments that changed sports forever.
The slide that got the most comments was that of the death of Olympic Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, at the 2010 Vancouver Games. Obviously recent history, which contemporaries experience, creates the most impact.
One of the other slides was about Ben Johnson and the start of the “steroid era” in sports.
It is interesting to compare the reaction of Canada in 1988 to an embarrassing sports incident and the reaction the now, 22 years later, and note what has happened in the interval.
In 1988, Johnson was Canada’s greatest Olympic hopeful at the summer games in Seoul, South Korea. His “certain” victory in one of the most glamorous Olympic events, the 100 meters, would make the world stand up and take notice that Canada was now a world power to be reckoned with at the Olympics.
It would also justify all the taxpayer and private donations that had been made up to that time. A Johnson victory would ensure a co...
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From Ben To Nodar: Canada’s Descent Into Shame
On June - 7 - 2010