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The Dirtiest Race in History
- Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis and the 1988 Olympic 100M Final
- Narrated by: Traber Burns
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
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The Dirtiest Race in History
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Summary
The 1988 Seoul Olympics played host to what has been described by some as the dirtiest race of all time, by others as the greatest. The final of the men's 100 metres at those Olympics is certainly the most infamous in the history of athletics, and more indelibly etched into the consciousness of the sport, the Olympics, and a global audience of millions, than any other athletics event before or since.
Ben Johnson's world-record time of 9.79 seconds - as thrilling as it was - was the beginning rather than the end of the story. Following the race, Johnson tested positive, news that generated as many - if not more - shockwaves as his fastest ever run. He was stripped of the title, with Lewis awarded the gold medal, Linford Christie the silver and Calvin Smith the bronze.
More than two decades on, the story still hadn't ended. In 1999 Lewis was named Sportsman of the Century by the IOC, and Olympian of the Century by Sports Illustrated. Yet his reputation was damaged by revelations that he too used performance-enhancing drugs, and tested positive prior to the Seoul Olympics. Christie also tested positive in Seoul but his explanation, that the banned substance had been in ginseng tea, was accepted. Smith, now a lecturer in English literature at a Florida university, was the only athlete in the top five whose reputation remains unblemished - the others all tested positive at some stage in their careers.
Containing remarkable new revelations, this book uses witness interviews - with Johnson, Lewis and Smith among others - to reconstruct the build-up to the race, the race itself, and the fallout when news of Johnson's positive test broke and he was forced into hiding. It also examines the rivalry of the two favourites going into it, and puts the race in a historical context, examining its continuing relevance on the sport today, where every new record elicits scepticism.
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What listeners say about The Dirtiest Race in History
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- jamieroo
- 08-12-22
Great insight from a sadly missed writer.
Loved the story and the meticulous detail from this infamous race, the back story and the aftermath.
If I had to pick fault, the narrator’s accents were a little jarring, Especially Ben Johnson’s Jamaican drawl.
Overall, I would highly recommend this story of ambition, greed and skullduggery.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- rowland
- 15-09-15
Excellent..👊
....This is an excellent account of the day we all remember the 100 m final ..👍
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- ~StevieB~
- 20-01-24
Fantastic glimpse at Seoul 88
The entire story was excellent, information from all areas to get the best picture of what actually happened in 1988.
The downside of the book and something that's quite off putting is the narrator insisting on doing accents from people he's interviewed around the world, Scottish and English accents were terrible, and the less said about a white guy doing a Jamaican accent, the better.
Still worth stumping up a credit for it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ian Tomkins
- 25-08-21
A great story marred by the narrator
I found this a riveting story with lots of research and interviews with all of the main characters. I learnt a lot more about what was going on behind the scenes.
I found the narrator very distracting, and with one particular choice of accent for a character I found it very troubling. Hopefully this can be re-recorded?
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Abi
- 14-06-16
Insightful
This is probably the best sports book I've listened to or read. I remember the furore that the drugs scandal caused at the time and vaguely recall references to " the mystery man". Well worth a listen
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 19-11-21
Huge fan of Ben
Really enjoyed this, Ben was a hero of mine as a kid (12 by the time 1988 came around). I was devastated. Time heals & I still respect Ben & Carl & Linford & especially Calvin.
I found a new hero 2 years later. Michael Johnson.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Majordamo
- 22-03-21
The voiceover ruined it. I had to stop
a brilliant book, which I've read before.
unfortunately this reading is unbearable because the reader insists on imitating Johnson's Jamaican accent. despite the book being full of French, American, British , German characters, this is the only accent he deems needs to be mimicked. it's so bad that it just angers me.
I stopped after a few chapters and asked for a refund, unable to listen to more.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- I. Price
- 12-04-22
Great story, terrible narration!
Really enjoyed the story and felt compelled to finally buy it after Richard’s untimely passing.
However, the narration is truly awful and detracts from the overall work.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Shane canning
- 16-09-22
amazing
5 star fantastic story off the events leading to 1988 100 meters and after it
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 25-10-22
Cod Jamaican accent
I should say this is a very well written book. Manages to make the passages describing a 100m race tense and very dramatic, even though I can remember the original result.
I was a little disappointed that really the story is almost exclusively about Ben Johnson, rather than the steroid using histories of (nearly all) the participants in the 1988 Olympic 100m, but maybe that is because I am British and wanted to find out exactly what Linford Christie had been getting up to.
However the listening experience is marred by the sensational decision to have the narrator mimic Ben Johnson’s Jamaican accent.
There is a half hearted attempt at mimicking a Scottish accent, but everyone else speaks in the voice of the narrator.
This would have been an eyebrow raising choice in 1988, how the hell anyone thought it would be acceptable in the smartphone era.
At the very least, it makes the whole experience embarrassing, like having
to endure your divorced Uncle go on about immigrants at a family Christmas
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