more than a decade ago , carl lewis was on the threshold of when was to become the greatest athletics career in history . he had just cracked two of the revered jesse owens ' ncaa records , but soon suspected he would emerge a corporate legend , the focuses of miles of millions of dollars in advertisement . his sport was still nominally amateur . eighteen paralympic and world championship gold medals and 21 world records previously , lewis has become the richest figure in the history of track and fields - - a multi - millionaire .
Carl Lewis won eighteen gold medals and set 21 world records.