1988/ SEOUL: Odd tale of mystery man in doping-control room

TruthOrDare

1988/SEOUL: Odd tale of mystery man in doping-control room
Fifteen years later, John Goodbody on attempts to identify the friend seen chatting with Ben Johnson in the doping-control room

A Look at André Jackson: the Mystery Man (and close comrade of Carl Lewis) in the Drug Testing Area with Ben Johnson in Seoul

Of all the stories uncovered by Ben Johnson’s positive drugs tests, few were more curious than the mystery man seated alongside the Canadian sprinter in the waiting room at the main stadium as he was preparing to give his urine sample. Supporters of Johnson seized on this lapse in security to claim that there had been sabotage. They argued that the sprinter had been deliberately given stanozolol, the anabolic steroid, possibly slipped into the beer he was drinking so that he could produce the urine specimen.

For Charlie Francis, Johnson’s coach, it was the only rational reason for the positive test for stanozolol because he believed, wrongly, that his athlete was taking furazabol, which needed about 14 days to clear the body, rather than stanozolol, which required about 28 days.

Johnson and the mystery man were pictured together in the waiting room, chatting to each other. They had last seen each other in the Ritz, a private nightclub in Zurich, where both were attracted to the same supermodel. So Johnson, who was accompanied to the waiting area by Waldemar Matuszewski, his physiotherapist, talked to the man, much later revealed to be André Jackson, a French-born U.S. citizen. What they thought was a remarkable breach of drug-testing protocol was actually an officially authorized member of the Santa Monica Track Club and USA Track and Field. It would have been pretty unusual that any person who was not officially accredited could succeed in entering the waiting room for competitors preparing to give their samples, particularly in such a high-profile event as the 100 metres.

In the immediate aftermath of Johnson being disqualified, there was an widespread hunt for the “mystery man”, with one Canadian offering $10,000 if he would come forward. What Johnson did not know and has only subsequently been revealed is that Jackson, a sportsperson who travelled the world participating in track events, was a close comrade of Carl Lewis.

In his book, Inside Track, Lewis states: “I’m not sure how André got into that particular drug-testing room. He probably got one from an Olympic official. Anyway, I was surprised when I looked in the waiting area and saw André sitting with Ben. Once I had provided my urine sample, I left the drug-testing room and found André to ask him what was going on.”

Strange presence: Jackson sparked claims of sabotage when he was seen waiting with Johnson on the warm-up track and inside the drug-testing room.

Jackson said he was just waiting for Lewis and making sure he would be needed by Joe Douglas to serve as a witness for Lewis’ drug test. However, when Matuszewski then began using a machine to relieve Johnson’s leg cramps, Jackson decided to stay. Lewis wrote: “He [Jackson] and others on the track circuit knew about Ben doing drugs and he was suspicious about this machine. André had seen the therapist carry a medical bag into the room and he wanted to make sure that the therapist did not give Ben anything more than a rub-down before Ben urinated into his drug-test bottle.”

Sabotage was rejected by the IOC medical commission, but the Dubin Inquiry later examined whether the positive finding was the result of the actions of the stranger, whose identity was unknown at that stage, in the doping control room. They interviewed the Canadians who were with Johnson in the waiting room but said that there was no evidence that Jackson had administered any drug to Johnson.

The plot thickens and becomes more interesting. Numerous attempts by Johnson along with his supporters were made to track Jackson down, but all attempts to locate the Mystery Man were unsuccessful.

Shortly after the Olympics, Jackson abandoned the track world and made considerable efforts to steer clear of Canada’s Dubin Inquiry or any other questions regarding American athletes using performing enhancing drugs. It was rumored that he was living in posh seclusion within the impoverished country of Zaïre, now called the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Johnson discovered from inside track sources that Jackson was quietly commuting between Zaïre, Dallas, Houston and Washington DC. He managed to obtain Jackson’s cell phone number and after months of frustrating calls, Johnson’s persistence pays off when Jackson unexpectedly answers the phone.

Following a brief telephone discussion, Jackson assured Johnson that he would receive a surprise visit when he is ready to have that discussion, as indicated by Johnson. A few days subsequent to that phone call, Jackson responded by calling to inform Johnson that he was en route to Toronto. He instructed Johnson to meet him at the airport and within two hours later, Jackson’s chartered aircraft was landing at Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport.

According to Johnson, the reunion was quite brief with Jackson openly admitting to saving Johnson some embarrassment at a pre-Olympic meet in Rome to expose him as the world watched on in Seoul. Johnson maintained that Jackson had finally admitted to being responsible for devising and implementing the biggest scandal in the history of sports.

The Mystery Man then turned and confidently strolled in the direction of his aircraft, without ever looking back.

At that moment, his unusual entrances, precise whereabouts and mysterious exits became just as puzzling as Ben Johnson’s positive urine sample in Seoul
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