False Positive

Exploring the botched drug test, false accusation, and subsequent cover-up that threatened to destroy Reynolds’ promising career.

Butch Reynolds won silver in the 400-meter dash at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. Two years later, he was the world-record holder in the 400 meters when he was suspended for steroid use following a drug test in Monaco. Afterward, he had a confounding and controversial struggle to clear his name against an unjust system— a struggle that has defined Reynolds’ story ever since.