Ben Johnson doping scandal series coming to Paramount+ Canada
The role of the disgraced sprinter will be played by John Wick: Chapter 4's Shamier Anderson
Canadian Olympic Committee
A new six-episode drama series based on Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson and his dramatic downfall at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul is coming to Paramount+ Canada and GameTV in early 2026. Produced by Toronto’s New Metric Media and Bay Mills Studios, the series, to be titled Hate the Player: The Ben Johnson Story, will feature Canada’s own Shamier Anderson (who appeared in John Wick: Chapter 4) in the role of the disgraced sprinter. Principal photography is slated to begin Friday at Toronto’s Dark Slope Studios.
The show, which was commissioned by GameTV (which will also handle cable distribution in Canada) is reported to take a satirical view of the story, and is “inspired by extensive research conducted by Canadian author and journalist, Mary Ormsby,” whose book World’s Fastest Man: The Incredible Life of Ben Johnson, was published in 2024. (It was reviewed in the July/August 2024 issue of Canadian Running.)
New evidence suggests Ben Johnson’s 1988 Olympic lab report was tampered with
Three days after winning gold in the 100m final in Seoul, Johnson was forced to give up his medal after testing positive for the banned steroid stanozolol, and his result was disqualified. This led to the Dubin Inquiry of 1989, which uncovered widespread doping among Canadian athletes.
Anderson talked about what the project means to him: “I grew up in Scarborough, where Ben trained, where his name still echoes. He was a hometown legend. Yes, complicated, but also someone people rooted for. Getting to do this alongside New Metric Media, who’ve been killing it in comedy, is a real honour, not just as an actor, but as an executive producer with my company, Bay Mills Studios.”
Anderson’s role in John Wick: Chapter 4 was Mr Nobody/The Tracker, and he appeared in the 2024 film, The Luckiest Man in America. The series is written by BAFTA-winning and Emmy-nominated writer Anthony Q. Farrell, whose credits also include The Office and Run the Burbs. Anderson started Bay Mills Studios along with his brother, Stephan James.
The series will be streamed exclusively in Canada by Paramount+ Canada
