Johnson claims ‘88 drug test was conspiracy

Disgraced sprinter Ben Johnson has claimed rival Carl Lewis played a part in a conspiracy to sabotage his drug sample at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Johnson set a world record of 9.79 seconds to win the 100 meters at Seoul but was stripped of his gold medal and world record when he tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol.

The Canadian-born sprinter since has admitted using banned drugs but insists his positive test at Seoul was the result of a conspiracy to discredit him.

Johnson told Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper in an interview last Friday that he drank beer with a former U.S. football player – “a family friend” of Lewis’ – in the drug test waiting room at Seoul and that his beer had been tainted with stanozolol.

Asked whether Lewis was involved, Johnson said: “I won’t say too much but … he’s involved.”

With Johnson’s disqualification, Lewis was awarded the gold medal and the world record for his time of 9.92.

Rodeo

Maben takes over lead

Kelly Maben, of Spur, Texas, won her fourth round in an arena-record time in the sixth round of the National Finals Rodeo at Las Vegas.

Maben’s time of 13.58 seconds bested Tammy Key’s 13.63 in 2002, and lifted Maben from third to first in the world standings with $145,008.

In bareback riding, defending world champion and world standings leader Will Lowe of Canyon, Texas, continues to hold a sizable lead. Cheney’s Ryan Gray finished out of the money for the fourth time in six rounds.

Boxing

Boxer fails drugs test

WBC light flyweight champion Omar Nino was temporarily suspended after testing positive for methamphetamine after last month’s title bout, Nevada boxing regulators said.

Nino is the first fighter to test positive for methamphetamine in Nevada. He has denied using the drug.

•Former heavyweight champion Greg Page was transferred to a rehabilitation center in Louisville, Ky., 10 days after being hospitalized with pneumonia.

Page, 48, was taken to Frazier Rehab Institute on Monday after being taken to Jewish Hospital on Nov. 24 with pneumonia and other complications.

Miscellany

Howard fires coach

Ray Petty will not return as Howard’s football coach after a second consecutive losing season and a 25-30 record over five years.

Petty’s best seasons were 2002 and 2004, when the Bison were 6-5. But the team went 4-7 in 2005, then 5-6 in 2006.

It was his first college head coaching job. He was an assistant at Howard from 1992-99.

•Len Sutton, who raced in the Indianapolis 500, died at home Monday morning in Portland of complications from cancer. He was 81.

Sutton first raced in the Indianapolis 500 field in 1958. In seven trips to Indy, his best result was a runner-up finish to teammate Roger Ward in 1962.

•Juergen Klinsmann and the U.S. Soccer Federation are likely to know within a week whether their talks will lead to a deal for him to become coach of the American national team, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said.