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Smiths Take Satisfaction In Running Clean

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By JOE HENDERSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 29, 2008

Updated: 06/29/2008 12:13 am

Normally there is a little pomp when you win a medal in the Olympics, but it wasn't that way with Calvin Smith - not in this circumstance. They told him to go to this table under the stadium in Seoul. They handed him a bronze medal for the men's 100-meter dash.

That was it. Some Olympic moment, huh?

No podium. No pictures.

It had to be that way because Smith got his medal under one of the darkest clouds ever to affect the sport of track, which is saying something. Ben Johnson had won the race, but was disqualified after testing positive for stanozolol. Smith was bumped from fourth place to third.

At least he knew he was clean. Many others in his sport couldn't say that.

That was 20 years ago.

Today, Calvin's son - Calvin Smith II, a sophomore at the University of Florida and a Freedom High alum - will make his run to join the American team headed to Beijing in August. He will compete in the 400 meters at the U.S. track trials in Eugene, Ore.

Now, as then, the stain of chemistry hangs over track. The sport has never really recovered from the disgrace wrought by Johnson on its biggest stage. There is doubt that any race we see is totally clean. And those like the Smiths, who compete clean, know they're at a disadvantage.

"Governing bodies say they want to try and clean the sport but athletes know they aren't. They just want to do enough to satisfy and fool the public," the elder Smith said.

"People around the sport know and they talk to people. There is a major drug problem and it's just a matter of fooling the public. Many more athletes should have been suspended throughout the past few years. I was mad at what happened in Seoul, but what can you do under those circumstances? Everybody knows what is going on."

Testing Can't Keep Up

Justin Gatlin won the 100 meters at the Athens Olympics in 2004 but can't defend his title. A court rejected his appeal to overturn his suspension after a positive test for testosterone. Marion Jones is in jail after getting mixed up with the federal inquiry into the BALCO drug lab.

Her coach, Trevor Graham, was recently convicted of lying to the feds in a steroid investigation. Tim Montgomery was a champion who had his records and results stripped after he was found to have used performance-enhancing drugs.

At Calvin Smith's Olympic race, Linford Christie was bumped from third to second after Ben Johnson's disqualification. He was later suspended after testing positive for the steroid nandrolone.

What might have been?

We'll never know for sure. But in their last race before those Seoul Olympics, Calvin Smith caught Johnson with 25 meters to go at a race in Cologne and went on to win.

"I must admit it's something I thought about," Smith said. "Unfortunately, the sport as far as I can remember has never been totally clean. That's still the case today, unfortunately. Athletes who aren't on drugs have to deal with it."

Testing can't keep up with the cheats and there are always those willing to risk long-term health or legal consequences for the money and fame that go with winning. Smith and his son talk about that a lot.

Enjoy The Race

The younger Smith faces long odds today, but so be it. Competing is about testing yourself, trying to get better. At least that's the idea in this family.

"He has to be excited to go to the Olympic trials. That's a big step in the right direction for any athlete. It shows he's getting to an elite level. It's exciting but it's also scary because you'll be running against the best around," Smith said.

"That's tough for him because he has never been at that level before. It's a matter of overcoming your nerves. I've just told him to go there and look at it as having fun and running your best. Enjoy the competition. One never knows. I've seen in the past, and have done myself, many people rise to the occasion. Many people have a breakthrough. If he runs his best, it could be a breakthrough for him."

Smith is a volunteer track coach at Gaither now. The medal they handed him under the stands in Seoul sits in a drawer. Every now and then he'll look at it, but not too much. There is frustration, sure, but there is also satisfaction.

"I feel I was the best during my time, no matter what the other athletes did," he said. "I know drugs were a key part of their success and I know mine was on natural ability. I can live with that."

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