A win-win situation: sportsmanship has restored my faith in Olympics

TWO weeks ago, in this column, I wrote about how a suspension of disbelief was required to make the most of watching the Olympic Games.

Experience had made me a doubter, of the records achieved, of the medals won, of the fairness of the competition, because previous Olympians had cheated by using performance-enhancing drugs.

My memories of earlier Olympics had been tainted in 1988 by the unmasking as drug cheats of most of the athletes in that year’s 100-metre final. Ben Johnson won it sensationally and was stripped of his title within days.