The Man Behind “Ben Johnson”: A Story Many Nigerians Don’t Know
In Nigeria, “He did Ben Johnson” has become a familiar way of saying someone ran away at top speed, especially to escape trouble. But behind the popular expression was a real athlete, Benjamin Sinclair Johnson Jr., a Jamaican-born Canadian sprinter who became one of the fastest men in the world. Born on December 30, 1961, in Falmouth, Jamaica, Johnson moved with his family to Canada in 1976 and began training at Toronto’s Optimist Track Club after being introduced by his elder brother Edward. Under coach Charles Francis, his career quickly took off.
By 1987, Johnson was a world champion, and in the 100-metre final at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, he produced one of the most memorable performances in athletics history. He defeated his great rival Carl Lewis in a world-record time of 9.79 seconds to win Olympic gold. But the triumph lasted only three days. Johnson tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid stanozolol, leading to the withdrawal of his gold medal and the annulment of his world record.
His extraordinary speed had already made his name famous around the world, and in Nigeria, that reputation eventually found a life of its own in everyday slang. “Doing a Ben Johnson” came to mean running extremely fast, particularly when someone was fleeing from danger, trouble or the police. Decades later, many Nigerians still use the expression without knowing the athlete behind it. His story is therefore more than the origin of a popular phrase. It is a reminder of how a sporting hero can become part of a country’s everyday language, even when the story behind the name is far more complicated.
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