Carl LEWIS - Olympic Athletics | United States of America Carl LEWIS Olympic Games 1984 , 1988 , 1992 , 1996 One of the greatest athletes of all time Carl Lewis, as one of only four Olympic athletes to have won nine Olympic gold medals, is widely recognised as one of the greatest athletes of all time. Matching Jesse Owens At the 1984 Los Angeles Games, Lewis emulated his boyhood idol Jesse Owens by winning gold in the 100m, the 200m, the long jump and the 4x100m relay. A superstar was born. Further Olympic joy At the 1988 Seoul Games, Lewis defended his 100m title after Ben Johnson was disqualified. He also defended his long jump title and claimed silver in the 200m. Four years later in Barcelona, he won a third gold medal in the long jump, defeating world record holder Mike Powell by just three centimetres. He also anchored the world record-setting US relay team. One last golden jump Lewis only just scraped into the US Olympic long jump team for the 1996 Atlanta Games.

He then needed all three jumps to qualify for the final. However in the final, he majestically moved into first place with his third jump and stayed there. Olympic records His success in the long jump made Carl Lewis one of only three Olympians to win the same individual event four times. He is also one of only four Olympic athletes to win nine gold medals. ESPN.com: King Carl had long, golden reign King Carl had long, golden reign By Larry Schwartz Special to ESPN.com Carl Lewis has always amazed us. By distinguishing himself in two seemingly simple actions -- jumping and running -- for the longest time, he became unlike any competitor. With his unsurpassed talent in the long jump and his speed in the sprints, he has gone places where no other track and field athlete has ever visited. Carl Lewis capped his remarkable Olympics career by winning gold in the long jump at Atlanta in 1996. He didn't lose in the long jump for a decade, winning 65 consecutive competitions. He won four gold medals at the 1984 Olympics, equaling the 1936 accomplishment of his hero, Jesse Owens. He sped to a world record in the 100 meters.

And then, when it appeared to be time for him to leave the jumping to younger athletes, he fooled us. "You try to give a man a gold watch, and he steals your gold medal instead. You ask him to pass the torch, and he sets your Olympics on fire," Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly wrote about Lewis, at the age of 35, winning his fourth consecutive Olympic long jump in 1996. That unexpected and stunning victory gave Lewis his ninth Olympic gold medal, tying him for the largest gold collection with U.S. swimmer Mark Spitz, Finnish long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi and Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina. Yet, through all his triumphs, Lewis never came to be embraced by the country. He never became his sport's ambassador, his sport's Magic Johnson. He came across as haughty and arrogant, cold and calculating, aloof and abrasive. We like our heroes to display at least a minimum of modesty (see Michael Jordan), though it is not necessary to have the unpretentiousness of a Lou Gehrig. The quest for perfection in most athletes is seen as a positive. In Lewis, it came across as a negative.

"He rubs it in too much," said Edwin Moses, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 400 hurdles. "A little humility is in order. That's what Carl lacks." That lack of humility never made up for Lewis being handsome and articulate, of having stayed clean in a dirty sport, of being a crusader against steroid use. Lewis, like Frank Sinatra, did it his way. But unlike Sinatra, he didn't have the charm to go with the talent. ZONE POLL "Lewis' liberating cool liberates him, not necessarily us," wrote Sports Illustrated's Kenny Moore. "We might understand him best as forged by the 100, holding on to his solitude until the pack falls away." Frederick Carlton Lewis was born July 1, 1961, in Birmingham, Ala., and raised in Willingboro, N.J., a suburban, middle-class, racially mixed environment. Bill and Evelyn Lewis raised Carl and his three siblings with the premise that they didn't have to bend to authority just because it's authority.

"We don't like outside influence," said Carl's older brother Cleve, "and we don't like control." Carl was seven when Bob Beamon set the remarkable record - 29 feet, 2½ inches at the 1968 Olympics -- that would possess Lewis for his career. He competed in track on the town club his parents coached. When he was 10, he and a cousin had their picture taken with Owens, who advised him to have fun. Small for his age (his younger sister Carol called him "Shorty") and shy, Lewis sprouted so suddenly at 15 (2½ inches in a month) that he had to walk with crutches for three weeks while his body adjusted. As a high school senior, his 26-8 leap broke the national prep long-jump record. Lewis went to the University of Houston, instead of local track power Villanova, to become more independent. By 1981 he was No. 1 in the world in the 100 meters as well as the long jump. Two years later, he won the 100, 200 and long jump at the U.S.

national championships, the first person to achieve this triple since Malcolm Ford in 1886. The 6-foot-2, 173-pound Lewis had even grander plans for the 1984 Olympics: four gold medals. First came the 100 meters. With a burst that was clocked at 28 mph at the finish, Lewis won by an incredible eight feet -- the biggest margin in Olympic history -- in 9.9 seconds. Lewis captured the long jump with his first leap -- 28-¼ into the wind. After fouling on his second attempt, Lewis, who had six races behind him and five more to go, passed on his last four jumps. The fans in Los Angeles didn't care about his heavy schedule; they booed him for not challenging Beamon's record. Lewis won the 200 in a then-Olympic record 19.80 seconds and completed his quest by running a 8.94 anchor leg on the victorious 4x100 relay team. But that L.A. gold didn't turn into as much green as Lewis had expected.

The endorsements he had counted upon didn't come (at least in the U.S.; he did much better in Europe and Japan). Lewis was hurt by his own attitude, as well as by his agent comparing him to Michael Jackson. No one had ever successfully defended either the long jump or 100-meter title in the Olympics. Lewis won both in 1988. Competing in the long jump final just 55 minutes after he qualified in the preliminaries of the 200, Lewis finished first with a leap of 28-7¼. In the 100, Lewis was beaten to the finish line by Ben Johnson, who ran a remarkable 9.79 seconds. But the steroid-using Canadian was stripped of the gold medal for failing a drug test, and Lewis was moved up to first. His 9.92 seconds was listed as the world record. Lewis, whose two-year winning streak in the 200 had been snapped at the Olympic Trials when he was beaten by training partner Joe DeLoach, was overtaken in the '88 Olympic 200 by DeLoach with 30 meters left and lost by .04 seconds.

Lewis never got an opportunity to go for the gold in the 4x100 as the U.S. was disqualified in the first round (without Lewis) for an improper baton pass. The 1991 World Championships in Tokyo were quite incredible -- in both the 100 meters and long jump. Lewis won one and lost the other. In the 100, six runners broke 10 seconds, with Lewis leading the pack after a mighty finish. "He passed us like we were standing still," said runner-up Leroy Burrell. For the first time in his life, after going undefeated in the long jump for a decade, after winning six Olympic gold medals, Lewis had at last set an untainted, unshared world record (since broken) with his 9.86 seconds. "The best race of my life," Lewis said. "The best technique, the fastest. And I did it at 30." But Lewis' 10-year unbeaten streak in the long jump came to an end five days later, even though he put together the greatest series of jumps in history.

Lewis had never before reached 29 feet, and this day he did it three times, including 29-2¾ (wind-aided) and 29-1¼ (against the wind). But Mike Powell, who had lost 15 consecutive times to Lewis, unleashed the longest jump in history -- 29-4½. At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Lewis exacted revenge on Powell, who had the record that Lewis craved, when he edged him by 1¼ inches with a leap of 28-5½. Lewis won his eighth gold medal by anchoring the record-setting 4x100 relay team. But eight wasn't enough for him. Lewis, who qualified third in the 1996 Olympic Trials in the long jump, showed he still had one huge leap left in him. His 27-10¾ at Atlanta was his longest jump at sea level in four years. "Lewis beat age, gravity, history, logic and the world at a rocking Olympic Stadium in Atlanta to win the Olympic gold medal in the long jump," Reilly wrote.

"It was quite possibly his most impossible moment in an impossibly brilliant career." Carl Lewis Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com Related Olympians: Brother of Carol Lewis . Medals: 9 Gold, 1 Silver (10 Total) Biography Carl Lewis is considered by many to be the greatest track & field athlete of all time and, with nine Olympic gold medals, 10 Olympic medals, and eight gold medals at the World Championships, it is a justifiable claim. His Olympic gold medals came in 1984 (100 metres, 200 metres, 4×100 metres relay, long jump), 1988 (100 metres, long jump), 1992 (4×100 metres relay, long jump), and 1996 (long jump). His four victories in 1984 matched the record set by [Jesse Owens] at the 1936 Olympic Games. In 1996 at Atlanta, Lewis ended his Olympic career by equalling [Al Oerter]'s record of winning the same Olympic event four times consecutively, with Lewis's feat occurring in the long jump.

At the World Athletics Championships, Lewis won the 100 metres, long jump and ran on the winning 4×100 relay team in 1983 and 1987. In 1991, he repeated in the 100 and the relay, but finished second to [Mike Powell] in the greatest long jump duel in history. In that event, Lewis set his lifetime personal best of 8.87 (29-1¼), but lost out to Powell, who with a mark of 8.95 (29-4), broke the legendary world record set by [Bob Beamon] at the 1968 Olympics. Lewis also competed at the 1993 World Championships, finishing third in the 200. At the Pan American Games he won bronze (1979) and gold (1987) in long jump and was also a member of the gold medal winning 4×100 relay team (with [Lee McNeill], [Harvey Glance], and the non-Olympian Lee McRae) in 1987.

Lewis twice set individual world records at 100 metres (1988, 1991), although his 1988 world record came at the Seoul Olympics when he initially finished second behind [Ben Johnson]'s presumed world record, although Johnson was disqualified for doping the next day. In relays he was a member of teams that posted world records at 4×100 metres six times and 4×200 metres three times. Although almost universally considered the greatest long jumper ever, he never set a world record in that event. In addition to his 1991 World Championships personal best, Lewis was denied that record in 1982, when he won the USOC National Sports Festival. Lewis had a jump estimated by most knowledgeable observers to be beyond 30 feet (9.14), but it was controversially ruled a foul, although no mark was found on the plasticine beyond the take-off mark. Despite his performances, Lewis never achieved great popularity among fans in the United States, and even world-wide his ability outstripped his appeal. He made some attempts to start a pop singing career, but with almost disastrous results, although he has appeared in a few movies.

He did become wealthy from his athletics career and many athletes credit Lewis with increasing performance fees in the sport. Personal Bests: 100 – 9.86 (1991); 200 – 19.75 (1983); LJ – 8.87 (29-1¼) (1991). Results Carl Lewis Biography - life, family, children, parents, school, mother, young, son, information, born Carl Lewis Biography Birmingham, Alabama African American track and field athlete One of track and field's greatest performers, Carl Lewis in 1984 became the first African American athlete since Jesse Owens (1913–1980) in 1936 to win four gold medals in Olympic competition. He won nine gold medals in four straight Olympics. A lifetime of dedication Born on July 1, 1961, in Birmingham, Alabama, Frederick Carlton Lewis is the son of two star athletes who attended Tuskegee Institute.

His father, Bill, ran track and played football; his mother, Evelyn, was a world-class hurdler (a runner who jumps over a series of hurdles) who represented the United States at the 1951 Pan-American Games. By the time Carl, the third of four children, was born, his parents were coaching young athletes in track and field events. When Carl was still young, his family moved to Willingboro, New Jersey. There his parents worked as high school teachers and founded the Willingboro Track Club. Lewis was not as talented as his brothers and sister, and his parents encouraged him to pursue music lessons instead. He kept working and practicing the long jump in his back yard, determined to improve. Small and skinny, Lewis competed in track meets, losing far more than he won. Still, his dedication and confidence caught the eye of Jesse Owens himself at a meet in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Owens urged other children to follow the example of the "spunky little guy." When he graduated from Willingboro High School in 1979, Lewis was the top-ranked high school track athlete in the country. Continues to improve In 1979 Lewis entered the University of Houston (Texas) on an athletic scholarship.

He worked with coach Tom Tellez, who suggested improvements in Lewis's style of jumping. After just one year of college Lewis qualified for the 1980 Olympic team, only to see opportunity pass him by when former President Jimmy Carter (1924–) cancelled Carl Lewis. AP/Wide World Photos . the United States' participation in the Games in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. Lewis kept his top national ranking in the long jump and the 100-meter dash at the 1981 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) indoor championships. He was the first athlete to win two events at an NCAA championship. In 1982 Lewis left the University of Houston to work at the Santa Monica Track Club in California. Coach Tellez continued to work closely with him. By 1983 Lewis had become a winner in four categories: long jump, 100-meter run, 200-meter run, and 400-meter relay. He won three gold medals at the track and field world championships in Helsinki, Finland, in 1983. During the early months of 1984 he set an indoor world record in the long jump.

It appeared Lewis would return from the twenty-third Olympics covered with gold medals. Backs up predictions Lewis's announcement that he would win four events in Los Angeles, California, in the 1984 Summer Olympics was viewed by many as arrogant, but he backed up his talk. He won the 100-meter sprint with a time of 9.99 seconds. His long jump effort of twenty-eight feet earned him a second gold. For his third, Lewis set an Olympic record with a 19.8-second run in the 200-meter race. Finally, he led the 400-meter relay team to an Olympic record victory at 37.83 seconds. Rather than being praised, Lewis was mocked by writers as "King Carl" for his brash predictions and for showing up late to press conferences. An endorsement contract (agreement to promote a company's products in return for money) with Nike was cancelled, and Lewis received no others in the United States, although in Europe and Japan he became a hero. Lewis continued to participate in indoor and outdoor track meets.

In 1985 Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson (1961–) arrived on the scene, and he began to beat Lewis regularly in the 100-meter sprint. At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, Lewis ran second to Johnson, who won the 100-meter event in record time. Lewis was awarded the gold medal soon afterward when Johnson was found to have used steroids (illegal substances that improve athletic performance). Lewis earned a second gold in Seoul for the long jump, but his continued success did little to improve his popularity. Worse, Lewis himself was charged with steroid use by a former opponent. Lewis denied the charges and sued the magazine in which they were published; he also agreed to submit to drug tests after races. Lewis has never been linked to drug use by anything but rumor. Finally accepted By 1992 Lewis had won eight world championship gold medals and had owned the long jump for ten years. Age began to take its toll on him, however. He watched Mike Powell break Bob Beamon's outdoor long jump world record at the 1991 world championships in Tokyo, Japan. Lewis made four personal best jumps at the same meet but still could not beat Powell.

At the 1992 Olympic trials, Lewis failed to make the cut for the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints. He did qualify for the long jump and the 400-meter relay, and a week later he discovered that he had been suffering from a sinus (a cavity in the skull connected to the nostrils) infection. Lewis experienced something at the 1992 Olympic trials that he had never received—total acceptance from an American crowd. He was given a standing ovation in New Orleans, Louisiana, as his second-place finish in the long jump qualified him for an Olympic berth. The admiration of fans came showering down in Barcelona, Spain, in 1992, when Lewis beat Powell in the long jump to earn his seventh gold medal and then anchored the 400-meter relay for his eighth. One more time Following the 1992 Olympics, Lewis's performance began to decline, and by 1995 he was being beaten regularly by younger athletes. Still, Lewis participated in the 1996 Olympic trials and won a chance to compete in the long jump at the games in Atlanta, Georgia. He easily won his fourth straight gold in the event.

With endorsement contracts from Panasonic, among others, and large personal appearance fees, he became a wealthy man and considered running for political office in Houston, Texas. In 1999 Lewis was named one of the century's greatest athletes at the Sports Illustrated 20th Century Sports Awards ceremony. In 2000 he said he still felt he could compete at the Olympic trials but would not do so until the problem of athletes using drugs was addressed. He still attended the games in Sydney, Australia, participating in a ceremony to honor the McDonald's Olympic Achievers, young people from around the world chosen for their success in school-work, athletics, and community service. In December 2001 Lewis was elected to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. He also tried acting, appearing in the 2002 television movie Atomic Twister. Eight of Lewis's Olympic gold medals are still in his possession. The ninth—his first, for the 100-meter sprint—was buried with his father Bill in May of 1988. "My father was most proud of the 100," Lewis revealed in the Philadelphia Daily News.

"More than anything, he wanted me to win that medal.… Now he has it and he'll always have it." For More Information Carl Lewis | American athlete | Britannica.com American athlete Alternative Title: Frederick Carlton Lewis Carl Lewis Carl Lewis, in full Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961, Birmingham , Alabama , U.S.), American track-and-field athlete, who won nine Olympic gold medals during the 1980s and ’90s. Carl Lewis flying through the air during the long jump finals at the 1992 Olympic Games in … © Eric Feferberg—AFP/Getty Images Lewis qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in 1980 but did not compete, because of the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Games. At the 1984 Games in Los Angeles , Lewis won gold medals in the 100-metre (9.9 sec) and 200-metre (19.8 sec) races, in the long jump (8.54 metres [28.02 feet]), and as a member of the U.S. 4 × 100-metre relay team, which he anchored.

Lewis became the third track-and-field athlete to win four gold medals in one Olympics, joining Americans Alvin Kraenzlein (1900) and Jesse Owens , the latter of whom won the same four events at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin that Lewis won in Los Angeles. Lewis added two more gold medals and a silver medal at the 1988 Games in Seoul, South Korea , becoming the first Olympic athlete to win consecutive long-jump gold medals, with a leap of 8.72 metres (28.61 feet). Lewis had the four best jumps in the competition, and his Olympic title was part of a long string of consecutive long-jump victories that extended over several years during the 1980s. Lewis’s other gold medal at the 1988 Games came in the 100 metres (9.92 sec), after Canadian Ben Johnson , who had won in world-record time (9.79 sec), was disqualified three days later after testing positive for anabolic steroids. Lewis settled for a silver in the 200 metres.

At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain , Lewis won two more gold medals, including his third consecutive long-jump title, with a leap of 8.67 metres (28.44 feet). Again anchoring the U.S. 4 × 100-metre relay team, Lewis won his eighth gold medal as the team set a world and Olympic record of 37.40 sec. At age 35 Lewis was a surprise qualifier in the long jump for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, where he “ran through” his first jump and notched a ho-hum 8.14 metres (26.71 feet) on his second leap. However, his last leap of 8.5 metres (27.89 feet), though well off any records or personal bests, held up as the top jump and earned Lewis his ninth gold medal. In 1997 he retired from competition. Two years later, he was named Sportsman of the Century by the International Olympic Committee .

Britannica Stories Carl Lewis' Impressive Olympic History play American Carl Lewis is one of the few athletes who have won 9 gold medals during his Olympic career (2 in the 100m, 1 in the 200m, 2 in the 4x100m, and 4 in the long jump). Lewis participated in four Olympic games, he equaled Jesse Owens' legendary performance by winning 4 golds in a single Olympics in 1984. He is also the only man who has won the long jump Olympic title four consecutive times.

Carl Lewis (USA) - Athletics - Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1998, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 Athletics, Atlanta 1996, LEWIS, Carl, long jump, United States of America, Men, 50 stunning Olympic moments No44: Carl Lewis's four golds in 1984 | Simon Burnton | Sport | The Guardian 50 stunning Olympic moments 50 stunning Olympic moments No44: Carl Lewis's four golds in 1984 His medal haul is unrivalled in track and field but the unloved American struggled to turn his success into big bucks Carl Lewis wins the 100m at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.

Photograph: BTS/Popperfoto Friday 29 June 2012 04.00 EDT First published on Friday 29 June 2012 04.00 EDT Share on Messenger Close Carl Lewis was to compete in the ambitious quadruple of 100m, 200m, long jump and 4x100m, but it was not just athletics that he practised in the build-up to the 1984 Olympics. With an eye on his life beyond the Games there were also acting lessons – “How can you train 15 years towards becoming the best athlete in your event and not one minute towards becoming an actor or singer and expect to do well?” – and an internship with the Houston television station KTRK, where he spent three days a week preparing for a possible career in front of the camera. “I am not limited to being an athlete,” he said.

“I am limitless.” Why US women are likely to outperform the men again at the Olympics Read more Though he had qualified for the 1980 Olympic team that eventually refused to travel to Moscow, Lewis’s big breakthrough had come at the 1981 national championships in Sacramento, where the long jump final and the 100m final were held at the same time and he still managed to win them both. His fame had been growing ever since, and in the build-up to the Games Lewis and his manager, Joe Douglas, were swatting away opportunities. He turned down the role of Jesse Owens, who in 1936 had won gold medals in precisely the four events Lewis was contesting in Los Angeles, in a TV movie, and the chance to play a detective in a mooted new series. “I’m willing to wait for the so-called big bucks,” he said. “If I do a TV series I want to be the star.” He turned down offers to play for the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL, and Chicago Bulls in the NBA. He also turned down an endorsement deal with Coca-Cola, certain that bigger offers awaited after the Games.

“As time goes on, he won’t be just a track star or a sports star, he’ll be a personality,” Douglas said. “When Carl negotiates his contracts after the Olympics, he’ll be just as valuable as Michael Jackson.” All that remained was for Lewis to perform on the track and the adulation and fortune would inevitably follow. But his plan had one flaw: some people, not matter how magnificent their achievements, will simply never be loved, and Lewis is one of them. And so it was that after winning his first gold he was criticised, after winning his second he was booed, and having eventually completed the greatest track and field performance in post-war Olympic history he didn’t gain sponsors – he lost them. Coca-Cola withdrew their offer while Nike, who had been working with him since 1981, ended the arrangement soon afterwards. Making friends was the one skill he could never improve by training, and he went on to accumulate many medals but few admirers. On the eve of his final appearance in Europe, in 1997, the Guardian ran a profile in which he was described as “one of the most remote and reviled figures in the sports community”.

It was his habit of looking around and celebrating as he coasted to victory in sprints that first irritated his rivals. “I’ve talked to a lot of people and the words they used were lack of sportsmanship,” said Ed Moses. “Everybody knows he’s a big winner, and nobody envies him or anything like that. But for some people, it’s a little too much.” “It’s not showboating, it’s emotion,” Lewis responded. “I don’t mind that other people don’t show emotion like I do, but I mind when they say I shouldn’t.” He was further criticised before the Games for his refusal to stay in the athletes’ village. “I’m a visible athlete,” he said. “My goal is to compete as well as I can and that means I have to get my privacy.” “We are no longer competing as individuals but as a team,” retorted Tonie Campbell, a 110m hurdler. “We’re here to help each other out.” Lewis’s first event was the 100m.

At 6ft 2in he was tall for a sprinter (albeit three inches shorter than Usain Bolt) and had always struggled at the start, relying on his pace over the final 60m to carry him to victory. So it was in his first heat, which he won with ease – “I practically walked through the whole race” – and his second three hours later, which he won in 10.04sec. The following day he was the fastest of the semi-finalists, and in the final he got off to a decent start by his standards, which was bad news for his rivals, and powered through to win gold in 9.99. “As far as I’m concerned, 60% of it is over,” he said. “This is by far the toughest event for me because so much can happen.” After his victory he approached a man in the crowd and took from him a giant USA flag, which he carried around the track on his victory lap. But his celebration was considered too ostentatious, his poses too forced, and rumours suggested that it had been choreographed, the flag handed to him by a friend.

“I’ve always been exuberant, maybe even a showboat, and when I grabbed that flag it was spontaneous,” he insisted. A man called Paul Tucker came forward as the flag’s owner. “Some people have said Carl had it planted in the crowd,” he said. “No way. He just saw us there and asked for it. It’s that simple.” The following morning he won his first two 200m heats, and that evening came the long jump, his favourite event. “I enjoy sprinting,” Lewis had said, “but if I could only compete in one event I’d be a jumper. Sprinting is so common. Jumping is more interesting, more difficult, more challenging. And there are so many good sprinters, I would lose now and then. But in the long jump, I can make mistakes and still win.” His main rival in the long jump was someone who had long since stopped jumping: Bob Beamon, whose freakish leap of 8.90m at the 1968 Olympics had never been beaten. When Lewis was 10 years old, he took a tape measure into the back garden and measured out the distance Beamon had flown three years previously.

To a child it looked almost comically unachievable, but by 1984 Lewis was coming close enough for it to be considered within his grasp. “I feel I have talent,” he said. “So if I don’t break that record, I feel I’m wasting my talent.” But Beamon’s record had come in the thin, high-altitude air of Mexico City and with a following wind of 2.00m/s, precisely the maximum allowable. Los Angeles is at sea level, and that night the wind was swirling menacingly around the stadium. Still, many in the crowd expected to see the record fall, and were encouraged when Lewis’s first jump was measured at 8.30m. Even when his second jump was a foul, Lewis had four further opportunities to write his name into history. He didn’t take any of them – nobody else looked like coming close to his first mark, and he had two further finals to think about. “I decided I didn’t want to take any chances,” he said. Lewis’s decision was not unusual: such was his superiority, he rarely had to make more than two attempts to win a long jump competition.

The inaugural world championships in Helsinki the previous year had followed a similar path: a first jump that was clearly good enough for victory, a second that wasn’t as good, and then four passes. But for this crowd gold was not enough, and they displayed their frustration in the noisiest way possible. “I was disappointed at first,” said Lewis, “but after I thought about it, I realised that they were booing because they wanted to see more of Carl Lewis. I guess that’s flattering.” He won his 200m semi-final two days later, and led an American clean sweep in the final. That just left the 4x100m, for which the USA were overwhelming favourites having broken the world record in Helsinki. They were in the lead after Sam Graddy’s lead-out leg of 10.29, Ron Brown extended it with a second leg of 9.19 and Calvin Smith – the reigning 100m world-record holder who, given the strength of American sprinting, had not even made the US team for the individual event – covered the second turn in 9.41. When Lewis collected the baton USA held a lead of perhaps three metres.

He may have occasionally been guilty of premature celebration when competing for himself, but with the fates of three team-mates on his shoulders he remained utterly focused. By the time he dipped for the line his nearest rival, Jamaica’s Ray Stewart, was 15m away. Lewis’s split was 8.94, and the time of 37.83 was the only track and field world record in Los Angeles. It said something about how Lewis had been perceived in Los Angeles that after the race the other members of the relay team were asked not about his sporting achievement, but about his personality. At least they were nice about him. “He’s a great person to have as a team-mate,” said Smith. “Carl is a good friend,” said Brown. “He set some goals and he achieved them. People should respect that.” Willie Gault, who had been on the relay team in Helsinki, went further by insisting he was “one of the nicest persons I ever met”. That night Lewis insisted that he had been misunderstood. “Too many people built me up before the Games,” he said. “My job is just to compete as an athlete and be a nice guy. All I am is Carl Lewis.

I came to these Games with the intention of winning four gold medals. I did it. I’ve enjoyed the Olympic Games . This has been the time of my life.” Two days earlier, with Lewis three-quarters of the way towards his final gold-medal haul, Daley Thompson had won the decathlon and revealed a T-shirt that read: “Is the world’s second best athlete gay?” Rumours about Lewis’s sexuality had started well before the Games. “A majority of the athletes criticise me. Some of them talk about me like I’m a dog,” Lewis had said. “They say I’m a coke freak, that I’m a homosexual. They say it because no one knows what I’m doing. I don’t even stay in the same hotel as the other athletes any more. I could be sleeping with a horse for all they know.” Lewis’s sexuality, of course, is irrelevant but the existence of doubt was seen as a key reason why he was shunned by American advertisers.

He didn’t help his cause by speaking of his love of fine china and crystal – most of which were smashed when thieves broke into his house in Houston while he was away in Los Angeles – or by wearing a rather revealing leotard in the video of his 1986 single Break It Up, which flopped in the US but sold 500,000 copies in Europe. “Men, athletes especially, have to be like King Kong,” he said. “We have to be carved in a certain way, just to be men – chests of steel and all. I think it’s disgusting.” When Lewis’s father, Bill, died in May 1987 he was buried holding the 1984 100m gold medal. “Don’t worry,” the athlete told his mother, “I’ll get another one.” And he did, thanks to Ben Johnson’s positive drug test in Seoul the following year, where Lewis again won the long jump. Still sponsors stayed away, scared off by rumours of widespread doping (and in 2003 it was revealed that Lewis had himself tested positive at the 1988 US trials).

But in the build-up to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, where Lewis qualified only for the sprint relay and the long jump, he was finally signed up to star in a high-profile ad campaign in the United States, for Panasonic. “Carl’s image has changed in the last couple of years, and people see him differently now,” said its vice-president, Bob Greenberg. Lewis emerged with another two gold medals. By 1996 he was still going, but not very quickly. In the US trials he came last in the 100m final and fifth over 200m, before making the team in the long jump with an inch to spare. When his competition came he was a whisker away from missing the final entirely: needing a place in the top 12, after the first round of jumps he was 11th, and after the second he was 15th. That left him with one more chance; with the press box already penning his obituary he produced the best leap of the night and qualified in first place.

Facing him in the final was Mike Powell, the man who had broken Lewis’s 10-year, 65-event unbeaten record, and simultaneously laid the ghost of Bob Beamon, with a leap of 8.95m at the 1991 World Championships. Powell had taken silver behind Lewis in Seoul and Barcelona, and was ready finally to vanquish an ageing opponent. The crowd loves an underdog. Twelve years earlier Lewis won gold and was booed. In Atlanta, when he was introduced to the crowd and his face flashed up on the big screen, 80,000 people stood and applauded. And Lewis did not let them down, leaping 8.50m with his third jump to secure his ninth Olympic gold. Powell approached him. “Where the hell did that come from – you’ve not jumped like that in two years,” he said. “You’ve already got eight gold medals – can’t you let me have one?” The night was only to get more miserable for Powell, who injured a muscle with his penultimate jump but, still outside the medals, insisted upon having “my Derek Redmond moment”.

Grimacing in pain he pushed himself down the runway, but he simply could not take off. He landed face down in the sand, sobbing. Why Olympians shine under the spotlight Read more And there it should have ended, with Lewis finally accepted as the great Olympian his performances had proved him to be, with a collection of nine gold medals that no track and field athlete has ever bettered. Instead he demanded a place on the sprint relay team and a chance to win a 10th, proving that his talent for angering other athletes and appearing casually arrogant remained undiminished. “People want me to run the relay, and they think I have the right to run,” he insisted. But Jon Drummond, one of the men whose places Lewis was angling to take, summed up the mood of the incumbents. “He is definitely a legend, a living legend, but that is not the issue right now,” he said. “The case is that you have four people who have worked diligently for four years to come here and perform. So what is it?

Give Carl a 10th gold medal, or deny somebody else fulfilling their dream?” In the end nobody fulfilled their dream: Lewis was left out, the US came second to Canada in the 4x100m and Lewis announced his retirement. “My clock just said: ‘Turn it off. It’s not going to happen again,’” he said. And perhaps it never will. African American Athletes Carl Lewis Carl Lewis Carl Lewis, considered by many to be the greatest track & field athlete of all time, won, nine Olympic gold medals, 10 Olympic medals, and eight gold medals at the World Championships. His four victories in 1984 matched the record set by Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympic Games. Carl Lewis ended his Olympic career by winning the long jump Olympic event four times consecutively. Frederick Carlton Lewis was born in Birmingham Alabama on July 1, 1961, the son of two star athletes. His father, Bill, ran track and played football, while his mother, Evelyn, was a world-class hurdler who represented the United States at the 1951 Pan-American Games.

By the time Carl, the third of four children, was born, his parents were coaching young athletes in track and field events. While Carl was still young, the family moved to New Jersey where his parents, both high school teachers started the Willingboro Track Club. At age 13, Lewis started to compete in the long jump, and while attending Willingboro High School, he emerged as a promising athlete. As a junior, he was one of the top long jumpers in New Jersey, and by his senior year he was one of the top long jumpers in the world. Just days after graduating from high school Carl Lewis broke the high school long jump record with a leap of 8.13 m (26 ft 8 in). After graduating from high school in 1979, many colleges tried to recruit Lewis, and he chose to enroll at the University of Houston where Tom Tellez was coach. Except for his father in Carl's youth, Tellez would be Carl Lewis’ only coach for his entire career. Carl Lewis dedicated himself to track and field, and even though the sport was nominally amateur, he intended to make a living from it.

Lewis once stated “I want to be a millionaire and I don’t ever want a real job." During his career he played a role in pushing athletics from an amateur sport to purely professional. Qualifying for the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, Carl Lewis was one of the many athletes disappointed when the United States boycotted the event because of the Soviet's invasion of Afghanistan. By 1981 Carl Lewis was ranked number one in the world in the 100 meters as well as the long jump. Two years later, he won the 100 meter, 200 meter and long jump at the U.S. national championships, the first person to achieve this triple since Malcolm Ford in 1886. The 1984 Summer Olympics was a time for Carl Lewis to shine. Meeting Jesse Owens as a child, it had always been a goal of his to equal Jesse Owens feat of four gold medals in a single Olympic, and in 1984 Carl Lewis did just that, gaining gold in the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4x100m relay.

It was a remarkable achievement, though to Carl's disappointment it didn't lead to the endorsements and popularity he might have hoped for. There was some criticism for this decision to forego his last 4 long jump attempts to focus on other events. Many hoped he would break Bob Beamon's record as well as win gold. By the end of 1984, Carl Lewis was awarded top rank in the 100 meter and the long jump and was additionally ranked number one in the 200 meter. For the third year in a row Lewis was also awarded the Athlete of the Year title. In 1987 Carl Lewis went on to win gold at the World Championships. Sadly Carl's father passed away from cancer during the year, and to honor him Carl Lewis had the Olympic gold medal for the 100 meter race he had won in 1984 buried with his father. The loss of his father made Lewis even more determined to win gold again in the upcoming 1988 Olympics in Seoul. Carl Lewis also had a heated rivalry with fellow track star Ben Johnson and both press and fans were anxious to see the outcome of the 100 meter run.

The sprint soon became one of the most hyped events of the season. At the end of the race, Ben Johnson emerged out as the winner with 9.79 s, a new world record while Lewis set a new American record with a clocking of 9.92 s finishing second. However, three days later, Johnson tested positive for steroids and Lewis was awarded the gold medal, along with the new Olympic record. By 1992 Carl Lewis had won eight world championship gold medals and had owned the long jump for ten years. Now 31, age had began to be a factor for Lewis. He watched Mike Powell break Bob Beamon's outdoor long jump world record at the 1991 world championships in Tokyo, Japan. Later at the 1992 Olympic trials, Lewis failed to make the cut for the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints. He did qualify for the long jump and the 400-meter relay, which meant another trip to the Olympics in Barcelona, Spain in 1992.

With admiring fans cheering him on, Carl Lewis beat Powell in the long jump to earn his seventh gold medal and then anchored the 400-meter relay for his eighth. Carl Lewis would have one more shot at the Olympics. By 1995 he was being beaten regularly by younger athletes, but after participating in the 1996 Olympic trials Lewis won an opportunity to compete in the long jump at the games in Atlanta, Georgia. He easily won his fourth straight gold in the event, winning the same event in four consecutive Olympic Games. After Lewis retired from athletic competition in 1997, he went on to do promotional work, along with a small amount of acting. In 2009 Carl Lewis was named the Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. USATF - Hall of Fame Born: July 1, 1961 - Birmingham, Alabama Events 100 m - 9.86 200 m - 19.75 Carl Lewis' achievements are unprecedented in track and field: He is one of two athletes (the other being Paavo Nurmi) to win nine Olympic gold medals.

Similarly, he is one of two (the other being Al Oerter) to win four golds in the same event. He also won 10 medals, including eight golds, at the World Outdoor Championships, the most by any athlete in the world. Growing up in Willingboro, N.J., Lewis came from an athletic family, and yet he blossomed late in his high school career. In his senior year, he improved his personal best in the long jump by almost a foot, from 25' 9" to 26' 8" and ranked number five in the world. The following year, as a freshman at the University of Houston, he qualified for the Olympic team in the long jump. Because of the U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics, Lewis had to wait four years for his Olympic glory. By 1984, he had already ranked number one in the world in both the 100 meters and long jump for three consecutive years. In Los Angeles, he matched Jesse Owens' 1936 feat with four gold medals in the same events -- the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4x100m relay.

Lewis' talent was matched by his longevity. At the 1988 Olympics, he won the 100 meters and long jump. In 1992, he again won the long jump as well as the 4x100m, anchoring the U.S. team to a world record of 37.40. In 1996, in his final Olympics, Lewis had a dramatic farewell, winning his fourth-consecutive gold medal in the long jump. At age 30, he had one of his greatest achievements, breaking the world 100m record with a time of 9.86 while winning the event at the 1991 World Championships. At that same meet, he had one of his greatest disappointments, losing his long jump streak of 65 consecutive victories to Mike Powell. It was an occasion on which Lewis recorded his longest jump ever -- 29' 1 1/4" -- while Powell was breaking Bob Beamon's legendary record with a jump of 29' 4 1/2".

Records Held World Record: 100 m - 9.86 (August 25, 1991 - ) Championships 1984 Olympics: Long Jump (1st) 1984 Olympics: 100 m (1st) 1984 Olympics: 200 m (1st) 1984 Olympics: 400 m relay (1st) 1988 Olympics: Long Jump (1st) 1988 Olympics: 100 m (1st) 1988 Olympics: 200 m (2nd) 1992 Olympics: Long Jump (1st) 1992 Olympics: 400 m relay (1st) 1996 Olympics: Long Jump (1st) 1991 World Outdoors: Long Jump - 8.87 m (2nd) 1991 World Outdoors: 100 m - 9.86 (1st) Education high school: Willingboro (Willingboro, New Jersey), 1979 undergraduate: Houston (Houston, Texas), 1

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Question: Carl Lewis won 9 Olympic gold medals. He won his first in what year?
Answer: 1984