document: It was a scene that recalled the golden days for Ben Johnson . Almost . The media were there , as before , chronicling a news conference . Johnson was as before , shy and yet brimming with confidence . There was the bluster , the bragging , the promise of big things to come . This scene , which played out two weeks ago in Italy , was familiar , with one exception . The new element was the pervasive skepticism that now attends Johnson 's boasts . Overweening confidence among world class athletes is well accepted -- even expected . However , part of the expectation includes the understanding that the athlete can back up the boasts . Johnson will at last get his chance to do that . It has been two years since Johnson , then world record-holder at 100 meters , was stripped of his gold medal after testing positive for anabolic steroids at the Seoul Olympics . Johnson was also suspended from competition for two years ; that suspension ends today . And so the questions begin : What can Johnson do when not assisted by performance-enhancing drugs ? `` Once he returns to the sport , and if he returns a winner , all is forgiven , '' said Paul Gaines , assistant meet director for the Hamilton Spectator Indoor Games , the Canadian meet to be held Jan. 11 that will mark Johnson 's return to competition . `` I think that is the attitude the public will display . You hear grumblings among media types and in some circles of the sport , but you have to give the guy the benefit of the doubt . `` When this happened , it was a bitter disappointment for everyone in the sport to acknowledge that the No. 1 athlete in the sport was using drugs . With the accolades cast upon him in the previous years , people were resentful . With the humility and shame that has been reflected on him , people tend to be more open minded about it . They hope the guy comes back clean and fast . '' Clean and fast . To some in track and field that represents a contradiction in terms . It is this apparent contradiction that Ben Johnson must overcome in his comeback . Charlie Francis , who coached Johnson for 12 years , estimated that steroids made Johnson faster by one meter . How much ground will Johnson lose as a drug-free sprinter ? Johnson , speaking at a news conference in Castelfranco Veneto , Italy , expressed little doubt he can regain his form of 1988 . `` I want to take back the titles and the records I have been deprived of , '' the Associated Press quoted Johnson as saying . `` I have been training very hard recently . I am at 90 % right now . By strengthening training , I will be 100 % by January . I have decided to start again to show everybody I 'm still the best . I 'm convinced I can set a new world record . '' BIG MONEY Promoters of indoor meets this season doubt that Johnson will regain his records , but they hope that fans will turn out in huge numbers to watch him try . Indeed , in a season that holds the promise of high performance levels in general -LRB- as athletes peak for the world indoor championships in Seville , Spain , in March -RRB- , Johnson 's return to competition might help rejuvenate a sport in need of public interest . Al Franken , promoter of the Sunkist Invitational , is close to signing Johnson for his Jan. 18 meet , saying Johnson will receive the highest appearance fee Franken has ever paid -- $ 30,000 , compared to the $ 23,000 Franken paid Carl Lewis . And there is a bonus in the contract that rewards Johnson for high attendance figures . `` I think honestly , you have to figure that a lot of it is curiosity , '' Franken said . `` You 'll get people who do n't care about track , and you may attract back people who have quit coming to track . We need a push in the sport . It 's been struggling . We need a hype . Someone who is a ticket seller . Ben sort of transcends the sport , and , God knows , we need someone to transcend the sport . '' Transcendent is the word for the appearence fees Johnson will reportedly earn . His value in Europe and Japan has not waned . He will be paid $ 60,000 for a meet in Stockholm . But American meet directors say they ca n't pay that kind of money , especially for an unproven runner . `` If he 's eligible to compete , to me , Ben Johnson is an attraction , '' said Ray Lumpp , meet director for the indoor meet at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford , N.J. . `` I 'd like to have Ben Johnson regardless of how he runs . But how well he 's running will determine his value . That 's the key . Whether he is worth as much after six meets , I do n't know . You 're only as good as your last race , and the fans know that . '' Howard Schmertz of the Millrose Games in New York has an interest in Johnson , but perhaps not the budget . `` There is a lot of interest in seeing whether this fellow is a truly great runner or if he is what Carl Lewis said he is , a fair runner who got there by taking drugs , '' Schmertz said . `` I have no way of knowing . As far as the money , I expect a lot of big stars and I 'm going to have a lot of problems giving out -LRB- big appearence fees -RRB- . If you give him $ 10,000 and people are beating him , you could have problems . '' Already the backlash has begun . There is talk of informal athlete boycotts in Canada , where indoor meets often provide car fare and little else to star athletes . Johnson reportedly will be paid $ 10,000 -LRB- Canadian -RRB- for the meet in Hamilton , a figure that has caused some jealousy among his peers . Lumpp , who traditionally has one of the largest budgets in North America , said resentment is a problem faced every season by meet directors . `` How many heavy hitters can a meet afford ? '' he said . `` There are very few secrets among athletes , especially when there 's X dollars given to one athlete . '' Hamilton promoter Gaines has heard it before , and makes no apology for paying Johnson more than other athletes . `` My answer to that is ` Who puts -LRB- fans -RRB- in the seats ? Right now , I ca n't think of anybody who would arouse as much interest as Ben Johnson . '' It would be ironic if Johnson becomes the star who revitalizes indoor track and field after being blamed for the steady decline of sponsor interest in outdoor track . `` There has been damage to the sport and people want to blame Ben personally for that damage , '' Gaines said . `` We are very cognizant of the fact that people are looking upon his return with something like skepticism and animosity . To what extent , we do n't know . '' Some meet directors report concern that longtime sponsors will be reluctant to be associated with a meet that has Johnson as its marquee athlete , given Johnson 's former association with anabolic steroids . Franken said he had meetings with his sponsor , Sunkist , to discuss the possible image problem . Schmertz , too , has given the matter some thought . `` I 've had that thought myself , paying him that much money , '' he said . `` He was the greatest sprinter in history , then he was caught . Now he 's got a lot of notoriety . He probably thinks he can be paid more because of the notoriety . It 's a very complicated issue . I do n't know how the public is going to react . Are they going to treat him as someone who has paid his penalty and now he 's clean ? I do n't know . These questions have gone through my mind . '' Will Kern , meet director for the Times Indoor Games , hesitates at considering it a moral issue . `` It 's kind of perplexing , is n't it ? , '' Kern said . `` I 'm not God . I ca n't say that it 's wrong , especially when deep down I know Johnson 's not the only one who 's ever taken drugs . '' One thing that may not happen is a much-discussed lucrative match race between Johnson and Lewis . `` I will never allow it to happen , '' Primo Nebiolo , president of the International Amateur Atheltic Federation , said Sunday . `` We do not allow two-horse races . '' A NEW CAST Johnson , 28 , has passed at least four drug tests during his suspension . He has been an outspoken opponent of drug use and has spent the last year speaking to children , warning them against performance-enhancing drugs . Many of those around Johnson have changed , too . Francis is no longer his coach , having been replaced by Loren Seagrave , former women 's coach at Louisiana State University . Others in Johnson 's inner circle are Larry Heidebrecht , his agent ; Kameel Azan , a Jamaican-born Toronto businessman and former hairdresser who is Johnson 's adviser ; and Ed Futerman , Johnson 's attorney . The key words in the Johnson camp are Damage Control , or more simply , control . Futerman limits Johnson 's contact with the media , saying `` Ben has said all he has to say . We do n't need any more media . '' However , it was Futerman who offered to permit a British journalist to interview Johnson -- if he paid $ 10,000 and submitted his questions in advance . Johnson gave an in-depth interview to the German magazine , Sport , but only after being paid . Other than that , he has had a low profile . He still is awaiting word from the Canadian Olympic Assn. , which placed a lifetime ban on Johnson that prohibited him from representing Canada in the Olympic Games . The COA will meet on Friday and is expected to lift the ban . That may go a long way to easing Johnson back into a sport that disowned him almost as swiftly as he burst on the scene . What happened to Johnson after his positive test in Seoul is similar to what used to happen to famous East Europeans after defection . Any trace of them in their former countries disappeared . They no longer existed . Similarly , Johnson was erased from track and field 's record books . Not only did he have to give back the gold medal , but he lost two world records , causing the sport to change its rules in order to take them . The IAAF voted last September to adopt the controversial `` Ben Johnson Rule '' allowing the IAAF Council to decertify an athlete 's records , titles and results if he or she later is shown to have used a banned substance before those performances . The action gave the IAAF power to erase all of Johnson 's results between June 12 , 1983 , and June 12 , 1989 . Even though Johnson admitted to having taken drugs since 1981 , the rule carries a six-year statue of limitations . The rule stripped Johnson of his world record of 9.83 in the 100 meters and 6.41 in the indoor 60 meters . Already gone was the 9.79 race from the Olympics . The records are gone but not forgotten . The question remains , is Ben Johnson capable of running at that brilliant level again ? Meet promoters are willing to pay to find out . If the public will pay to watch Johnson is another question . Said Lumpp of the Meadowlands , `` You do n't have just a track and field story here , you have a human interest story . Here 's a person who has reached the top of everything , lost it all , and now he 's coming back to run . Will he be the same Johnson ? I do n't know , but people are willing to find out . ''
extractive_keyphrases: ben johnson anabolic steroids seoul olympics suspension expectation news conference drug tests hamilton spectator indoor games
abstractive_keyphrases: performance-enhancing drugs world record-holder