CHARLIE Francis, the former coach of disgraced Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, has died at the age of 61.
Canadian Francis died yesterday at a Toronto hospital after a five-year battle with cancer. Francis was working with Johnson when the sprinter became the first athlete to be stripped of an Olympic gold medal for using banned drugs.
Johnson tested positive for the steroid stanozolol after winning the 100m at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.
Athletics Canada banned Francis from coaching for life after he told a 1989 inquiry into the scandal that he had introduced Johnson to steroids.
Francis also worked with world 100m record holder Tim Montgomery and multiple Olympic champion Marion Jones, who were later exposed as drug cheats. (BBC Sport)