The man who would have been king
By Reuters in London | China Daily | Updated: 2013-09-25 07:22
If anti-doping regulations had been strictly enforced, Calvin Smith, a gifted American sprinter with a distinctive upright style, would have left the 1988 Seoul Games as the Olympic 100 meters champion and world-record holder.
On the day that changed the face of the Olympics and his sport forever, Smith finished fourth behind Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis and Linford Christie. Today he is the only man among the first five finishers in Seoul untouched by a drugs scandal.
"I should have been the gold medalist," Smith has said of a race that has been variously described as the dirtiest and most corrupt in history.
Photo