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Johnson Fails For Third Time

November 15, 1999 / 8:04 PM EST / AP

Ben Johnson tested positive for a banned substance used to mask performance-enhancing drugs, the third time the banned sprinter has failed a drug test.

The latest failure was confirmed Tuesday by Canada's drug agency. Johnson's agent, Morris Chrobotek, said Johnson had taken a diuretic for medical reasons.

"They make it sound like I'm doing something really bad," Johnson said. "They're treating it like a doping infraction, that I was doing something else. And I wasn't doing anything else."

Chrobotek paid for the latest test as part of a campaign to get Johnson's lifetime ban lifted. He said Johnson got pills when he became ill in the United States last year and had taken the medicine a few weeks before being tested last month.

"All he's interested in doing is clearing his name, getting a chance to run and hanging up his cleats after the 2000 Olympics," Chrobotek said. "Where's the big deal? Really what is he doing that is so wrong by trying to make a living? I don't see a problem with it."

"He just wants to finish off, write a book, perhaps do a movie and then get on with life and maybe even help other athletes if possible," he said.

Victor Lachance, head of the Canadian Center for Ethics and Sports, said Johnson's two urine samples showed evidence of hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic that can serve as a masking agent.

Lachance said he was unaware of any athlete previously testing positive three times. Johnson, who turns 38 next month, had called initial reports of a failed test "unreal."

Chrobotek said Johnson had no reason to use performance-enhancing drugs because of the lifetime ban. Johnson got the pills after experiencing stomach bloating, dizziness and other symptoms, the lawyer said.

"I'm a human being. I'm allowed to get sick. I can't get sick?" Johnson said Tuesday. "I'm not a machine."

"Most people (now) know I have a bloated stomach all the time," he said.

Johnson is tested twice a year at the Ottawa-based drug-testing center while he tries to get reinstated.

He continues to train even though an appeal to return to competition has been rejected by track's governing body. He announced plans to start an anti-drug foundation earlier this year.

Johnson set the 100-meter world record at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. His gold medal and record were stripped after he failed his drug test. His second failed test in 1993 brought a lifetime ban.