Ben Johnson to attend Sports Lit Fest in Odisha

Bhubaneswar, Oct 24 (PTI) Controversial former sprinter Ben Johnson will headline the Ekmara Sports Literary Fest, which will also feature top international and national athletes such as Stephanie Rice, Jeff Thomson and Neeraj Chopra here on November 2 and 3.

The event is a precursor to the Hockey World Cup being hosted in the city from November 28 and state chief minister Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate it, the organisers said in a press release.

Johnson, the 1988 Seoul Olympics gold-medallist in 100m who lost his medal after failing a dope test, recently hit the headlines after it emerged that his lab report was tampered with at that time.

The inaugural event will feature 30 speakers, including former Australian cricketer Thomson, swimmer Rice and India's javelin throw star Chopra.

Also there would be Olympic medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, fomer cricketer Mohammed Kaif, gymnast Dipa Karmakar and wrestler Vinesh Phogat