http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=capress-ath_obit_francis-3340489
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This is sad because he died much too young, but I have no sympathy for him for the mess he caused with the steroid scandal.
but I have no sympathy for him for the mess he caused with the steroid scandal.
I don’t think Charlie Francis caused the mess, Ben Johnson had a little to do with it. As long as athletes are willing to cheat, they will find a coach willing to help them.
I think he was just another in the long line of someone willing to do anything to win but the one thing he did do is tell the world about the prevalence of drugs and how everyone in the Olympics is on drugs. Many will still not believe it but he was telling the truth.
I actually blame Francis more than Johnson. I don’t have proof and I’m only going by my gut feeling, but it seems like Johnson was a stupid, know-nothing, young athlete who would do anything his coach tells him to do.
The image we have of Johnson is “run Ben run” just like Forrest Gump but with Francis calling all the shots and Ben as the simpleton who followed his orders not realizing he was taking roids. That was the scenario Johnson’s defense lawyers tried to portray, but who really knows.
I think Johnson knew what he was taking. He’s not that dumb. But, I also think that he’s dumb enough to think that if he just followed what his coach told him to do then everything would be fine. Certainly he needs to take much of the blame, but I also think he was young, inexperienced, naive and not too smart. Francis took advantage of that, IMO.
You’re probably right. Ben wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he couldn’t have been so clueless not to realize he was taking steroids.