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The Dirtiest Race in History by Richard Moore
£12.99
Available
Product Ref. (e.g. ISBN, SKU)
9781408158760
Published:
01 Aug 2013
Format:
Paperback
Number of pages:
326 pages
Dimensions:
198x129x22mm
Weight:
0.272kgs
Author:
The men's 100m final at the 1988 Olympics has been described as the dirtiest race ever - but also the greatest. Aside from Johnson's blistering time, the race is infamous for its athletes' positive drug tests. This is the story of that race, the rivalry between Johnson and Lewis, and the repercussions still felt almost a quarter of a century on.
'A captivating and detailed account ... it reads like a thriller, which is exactly the right tone to adopt by author Richard Moore for a story dripping with skulduggery and intrigue ... compelling' The Sunday Express
The 1988 Seoul Olympics played host to what has been described by some as the dirtiest race of all time, by others as the greatest. The final of the men's 100 metres at those Olympics is certainly the most infamous in the history of athletics, and more indelibly etched into the consciousness of the sport, the Olympics, and a global audience of millions, than any other athletics event before or since.
Ben Johnson's world-record time of 9.79 seconds - as thrilling as it was - was the beginning rather than the end of the story. Following the race, Johnson tested positive, news that generated as many - if not more - shockwaves as his fastest ever run. He was stripped of the title, Lewis was awarded the gold medal, Linford Christie the silver and Calvin Smith the bronze.
More than two decades on, the story still hadn't ended. In 1999 Lewis was named Sportsman of the Century by the IOC, and Olympian of the Century by Sports Illustrated. Yet his reputation was damaged by revelations that he too used performance-enhancing drugs, and tested positive prior to the Seoul Olympics. Christie also tested positive in Seoul but his explanation, that the banned substance had been in ginseng tea, was accepted. Smith, now a lecturer in English literature at a Florida university, was the only athlete in the top five whose reputation remains unblemished - the others all tested positive at some stage in their careers.
Containing remarkable new revelations, this book uses witness interviews - with Johnson, Lewis and Smith among others - to reconstruct the build-up to the race, the race itself, and the fallout when news of Johnson's positive test broke and he was forced into hiding. It also examines the rivalry of the two favourites going into it, and puts the race in a historical context, examining its continuing relevance on the sport today, where every new record elicits scepticism.
About the Author: Richard Moore was a journalist, author, and former racing cyclist. He competed in the Tour of Langkawi and the PruTour and the 1998 Commonwealth Games. Moore scontributed to Rouleur Magazine, Scotland on Sunday, The Herald, Sunday Herald, The Guardian and The Sunday Times and The Scotsman. His first book, a biography of the cyclist Robert Millar: In Search of Robert Millar won the Best Biography award at the 2008 British Sports Book Awards. His second, Heroes, Villains & Velodromes: Chris Hoy and Britain's Track Cycling Revolution, was published in June 2008.
| Number of pages | 326 |
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