Carl Lewis

Frederick Carlton "Carl" Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American athlete. He attended the University of Houston. He won 10 Olympic medals (of which 9 are gold) during his career, which lasted from 1984 to 1996. He has also won 8 world championship's gold medals, and 1 bronze, from 1983 to 1993.

Biography

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Carl grew up in Willingboro, New Jersey, in the Philadelphia area. At age 13, Lewis started to compete in the long jump. With his high sprinting speed, he also performed well in the sprint events. In 1980, Carl was selected for the US Olympic team, but the American boycott of the Games in Moscow delayed Lewis' debut.

Related Topics:
Birmingham, Alabama - Willingboro, New Jersey - Philadelphia - Long jump - Sprint events - 1980 - Olympic - Games in Moscow

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The following years, Lewis set season's-best performances in the 100 m and long jump. At the inaugural World Championships in 1983, Lewis won his first major titles, achieving victory in the 100 m, long jump and the 4 x 100 m relay events.

Related Topics:
World Championships - 1983

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This made him a great favourite for success at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Also entering the 200 m, Lewis sought to equal Jesse Owens' performance of 1936 by winning these four events, which he did.

Related Topics:
1984 - Los Angeles Olympics - Jesse Owens - 1936

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After he had repeated his 1983 performance at the World Championships in Rome in 1987, he was set for four more golds at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. However, things did not all go his way. He won the 100 metre sprint, but only after Ben Johnson was disqualified for a doping offence. It has since become known that Lewis himself had failed a drug test before the games, although he was subsequently cleared by the IAAF (see below). In the 200 m, he was surprisingly beaten by compatriot Joe DeLoach. The 4 x 100 m relay team was disqualified in the heats (with Lewis not even running) due to a bad exchange. Lewis had no problems defending his long jump title and headed an all-American podium.

Related Topics:
1983 - World Championships - Rome - 1987 - 1988 Olympics - Seoul - South Korea - Ben Johnson - Joe DeLoach - Relay

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During the season of 1991, Carl Lewis and his team mate, Leroy Burrell, dominated the sprint events. In the races before the World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, Burrell broke Carl Lewis' world record, as he ran 9.90s. However, in the World Championships Carl Lewis responded to Burrell's challenge, in perhaps the best 100m race in history, as a true Champion. In a race where six out of eight runners broke 10 seconds, a situation that had never previously occurred, Carl Lewis became the first man ever to break 9.90s, as he ran 9.86; thereby clinching his third World Championship title in the 100m and setting a new world record.

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In the years subsequent to 1991, Lewis's sprinting career began to tail-off, although his long jump performance was still excellent. However, he was challenged in that event as well, as compatriot Mike Powell won an exciting duel at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, in which the legendary record of Bob Beamon from 1968 was finally broken.

Related Topics:
Mike Powell - 1991 World Championships - Tokyo - Bob Beamon - 1968

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At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, another duel between the two was decided in favour of Lewis, winning his third consecutive Olympic long jump title. Lewis also ran the last leg of the American 4 x 100 m team.

Related Topics:
1992 Summer Olympics - Barcelona

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In the years that followed, Lewis did not win any major titles. In 1996 - aged 36 - he made a strong comeback in the long jump event, and made a bid for a fourth consecutive Olympic title. Lewis succeeded with remarkable ease, becoming only the third Olympian to win four consecutive titles in an individual event - the two others being Al Oerter (discus throw 1956-1968) and Paul Elvstrøm (yachting, 1948-1960). Lewis and Oerter are the only two to have won the same event at four consecutive Olympics; Elvstrøm won in two different events. If Lewis would have qualified for the 4 x 100 m team, he could have won his tenth Olympic gold, surpassing Paavo Nurmi as the most successful male Olympian.

Related Topics:
1996 - Olympic - Al Oerter - Discus throw - Paul Elvstrøm - Yachting - Paavo Nurmi

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Carl Lewis recorded a single called "Break It Up" in 1987 with his band Carl Lewis and the Electric Storm.

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Lewis retired after the Atlanta Olympics and is now an actor, living in Los Angeles, California.

Related Topics:
Atlanta Olympics - Los Angeles, California

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