document: The stripping of Ben Johnson 's Olympic gold medal in a drug scandal has wounded Canadian pride and shamed a nation hungry for a hero to replace hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky . `` It 's like Wayne Gretzky getting run over by a car , '' said Pat Reid , the Canadian high-jump coach . The spirit of a nation raced with Johnson when he won the gold medal in the 100 meters on Saturday with a world record time of 9.79 seconds . The euphoria was dashed when Johnson tested positive for stanzolol , a muscle-building steroid outlawed by Olympic officials . He was stripped of the medal Tuesday . Dr. George Astaphan , Johnson 's personal physician , and Larry Heidebrecht , Johnson 's agent , insisted the sprinter had not taken stanzolol . `` The only thing we can say is that it is a tragedy , a mistake or sabotage , '' Heidebrecht said . Johnson , a 26-year-old Jamaican transplant , waved the Canadian flag in triumph and dedicated his gold to his mother and all Canadian citizens . He returned home with a jacket over his head , hurdling a hedge to duck reporters after flying home from New York in the seclusion of a jet cockpit . It was unheroic conduct for the world 's fastest human , who had been awarded the Order of Canada and a medal from Queen Elizabeth at the Commonwealth Games . Johnson 's disgrace was heralded in Canadian headlines such as `` Fool 's Gold , '' `` Black Day For Canada , '' `` Seconds Of Glory , Years Of Shame , '' `` From Fame To Shame , '' and `` Big Ben is Now Has-Ben . '' `` We 're feeling low . Some of us do n't want to accept what happened , '' said John Furedy , a psychologist at the University of Toronto , in assessing the mational psyche . `` We all share some of the responsibility in the sense that we put such tremendous pressure on these people , '' Furedy said . Trent Frayne , sports columnist for the Globe and Mail of Toronto , said Johnson 's victory was the biggest event in Canada since a national team beat the Soviet Union in a seven-game hockey series in 1972 . The drug scandal brought the same sickening feeling to the nation as did Gretzky 's trade to the Los Angeles Kings . `` There was enormous exhilaration . Then 72 hours later , there was this roller coaster ride to the bottom , '' Frayne said . `` The Ben Johnson episode is a tragedy of shocking proportions . '' `` It 's as if an entire country has gone into a period of national mourning on his behalf , '' wrote columnist John Robertson of the Toronto Star . Canadian youth took the news hard . `` We look up to the guy . I guess we do n't look up to him anymore , '' said Craig Brown , 13 , of Toronto . `` He 's letting all his fans down . He let Canada down , '' said Donny Clarke , 12 . Canada has always tried to escape the influence of the United States , where its dollar is worth 80 cents . Now it has forfeited its only gold medal of the Olympics . `` He has left Canadians hanging their heads in shame , '' wrote the Corner Brook Western Star . `` He tarnished the name and reputation of Canada and let its people down , '' said the Fredickton Gleaner . But columnist Gary Lautens of the Toronto Star said the nation should not cover its head in shame . `` What Johnson did was wrong . It 's cheating . It 's believing the end justifies the means , it 's looking for an unfair edge , '' Lautens said . `` But it is also just a foot race . It 's time somebody reminded us nobody tried to peddle arms for hostages , nobody shot down a civilian airliner , nobody booby-trapped a home . ''
extractive_keyphrases: ben johnson canadians olympic gold medal drug scandal stanzolol sprinter stripping