▁ ▁Following ▁Johnson ' s ▁defeat ▁of ▁Lewis ▁in ▁Rome , ▁Lewis ▁started ▁trying ▁to ▁explain ▁away ▁his ▁defeat . ▁He ▁first ▁claimed ▁that ▁Johnson ▁had ▁false - start ed , ▁then ▁he ▁all ud ed ▁to ▁a ▁st om ach ▁virus ▁which ▁had ▁weak ened ▁him . ▁Finally , ▁without ▁naming ▁names , ▁Lewis ▁said ▁" There ▁are ▁a ▁lot ▁of ▁people ▁coming ▁out ▁of ▁now here . ▁I ▁don ' t ▁think ▁they ▁are ▁doing ▁it ▁without ▁dru gs ." ▁This ▁was ▁the ▁start ▁of ▁Lewis ' ▁calling ▁on ▁the ▁sport ▁of ▁track ▁and ▁field ▁to ▁be ▁clean ed ▁up ▁in ▁terms ▁of ▁the ▁illegal ▁use ▁of ▁performance - en han cing ▁dru gs . ▁While ▁c yn ics ▁noted ▁that ▁the ▁problem ▁had ▁been ▁in ▁the ▁sport ▁for ▁many ▁years , ▁they ▁pointed ▁out ▁that ▁it ▁did ▁not ▁become ▁a ▁cause ▁for ▁Lewis ▁until ▁he ▁was ▁actually ▁defeated , ▁with ▁some ▁also ▁pointing ▁to ▁Lewis ' s ▁e got ist ical ▁attitude ▁and ▁lack ▁of ▁hum ility . ▁During ▁a ▁controvers ial ▁interview ▁with ▁the ▁BBC , ▁Lewis ▁said : ▁There ▁are ▁gold ▁med all ists ▁at ▁this ▁meet ▁who ▁are ▁on ▁dru gs , ▁that ▁[ 1 0 0 ▁metres ] ▁race ▁will ▁be ▁looked ▁at ▁for ▁many ▁years , ▁for ▁more ▁reasons ▁than ▁one . ▁Johnson ' s ▁response ▁was : ▁When ▁Carl ▁Lewis ▁was ▁winning ▁everything , ▁I ▁never ▁said ▁a ▁word ▁against ▁him . ▁And ▁when ▁the ▁next ▁gu y ▁comes ▁along ▁and ▁be ats ▁me