Frederick Carlton "Carl" Lewis is an American former track and field athlete, who won 10 Olympic medals, including nine gold, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. His career spanned from 1979 to 1996 when he last won an Olympic title and subsequently retired.
|
Inspiring runs |
Lewis was a dominant sprinter and long jumper setting world records in the 100 m, 4 × 100 m and 4 × 200 m relays, while his world record in the indoor long jump has stood since 1984. His 65 consecutive victories in the long jump achieved over a span of 10 years is one of the sport's longest undefeated streaks.
From 1981 until 1992, Lewis topped the 100 m ranking six times (seven if Ben Johnson's 1987 top ranking is ignored), and ranked no lower than third. His dominance in the long jump was even greater, as he topped the rankings nine times during the same period, and ranked second in the other years.
Emulating Jesse Owens
At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Lewis was entered into four events with realistic prospects of winning each of them and thereby matching the achievement of Jesse Owens at the 1936 Games in Berlin.
Lewis started his quest to match Owens with a convincing win in the 100 m, running 9.99 s to defeat his nearest competitor, fellow American Sam Graddy, by 0.2 s. In his next event, the long jump, Lewis won with relative ease. But his approach to winning this event stoked controversy, even as knowledgeable observers agreed his approach was the correct one. Since Lewis still had heats and finals in the 200 m and the 4 × 100 m relay to compete in, he chose to take as few jumps as necessary to win the event. He risked injury in the cool conditions of the day if he over-extended himself, and his ultimate goal to win four golds might be at risk. His first jump at 8.54 m (28 ft 0 in) was, he knew, sufficient to win the event. He took one more jump, a foul, then passed his remaining four allotted jumps. He won gold, as silver medalist Gary Honey of Australia's best jump was 8.24 m (27 ft 01⁄4 in). But the public was generally unaware of the intricacies of the sport and had been repeatedly told by the media of Lewis' quest to surpass Bob Beamon's legendary long jump record of 8.90 m (29 ft 21⁄4 in). Lewis himself had often stated it was a goal of his to surpass the mark. A television advertisement with Beamon appeared before the final, featuring the record-holder saying, "I hope you make it, kid." So, when Lewis decided not to make any more attempts to try to break the record, he was roundly booed. When asked about those boos, Lewis said, "I was shocked at first. But after I thought about it, I realized that they were booing because they wanted to see more of Carl Lewis. I guess that's flattering."
|
Following the footsteps of the great |
His third gold medal came in the 200 m, where he won in a time of 19.80 s, a new Olympic record and the third fastest time in history. Finally, he won his fourth gold when the 4 × 100 m relay team he anchored finished in a time of 37.83 s, a new world record.
Numerous Accolades
|
Best in the world |
He has been voted "World Athlete of the Century" by the International Association of Athletics Federations and "Sportsman of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee. "Olympian of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Athlete of the Year" by Track & Field News in 1982, 1983, and 1984.
Life after games
After retiring from his athletics career, Lewis became an actor and has appeared in a number of films. In 2011 he attempted to run for a seat as a Democrat in the New Jersey Senate, but was removed from the ballot due to the state's residency requirement. Lewis owns a marketing and branding company named C.L.E.G., which markets and brands products and services including his own.
Despite being embroiled in controversy over failed drugs tests during US team trials for the 1988 Olympics and Character misconceptions, Lewis stunning career demands an enormous amount of respect. He won four gold medals and was undefeated for over a decade in his favored event, long jump, while he also managed to set world records over distances between 100m and 4x100m with the American relay team.