Lewis, "Carl" (F. Carlton)
Track and Field
b. July 1, 1961, Birmingham, AL
Lewis, who grew up in Willingboro, NJ, was a small child who went through such a sudden growth spurt at 15 that he had to walk on crutches for nearly a month to allow his body to adjust. A year later, he ran the 100 meters in 10.6 seconds and did 23 feet, 9 inches in the long jump.
After graduating from high school in 1979, Lewis entered the University of Houston. He won the NCAA long jump championship in 1980 and in 1981 he won the NCAA and national outdoor 100-meter and long jump titles.
Lewis left school in 1981 to join the Santa Monica Track Club and concentrate on training. After winning the national 100-meter and long jump championships again in 1982, Lewis established himself as the best athlete in the world in 1983. He won the 100- and 200-meter dashes and the long jump at the U. S. nationals, the first to accomplish that since 1986, and he also took world championships in the 100-meter and long jump.
At the 1984 Olympic Games, the 6-foot-2, 175-pound Lewis duplicated Jesse Owens' 1936 feat by winning gold medals in the 100 and 200-meter, the long jump, and the 4 by 100-meter relay. Never a great starter, he showed an amazing finishing burst in the 100-meter; he was clocked at 28 miles an hour when he hit the tape and he won by 8 feet, the largest margin in the history of the Olympic event.
An injury kept Lewis out of action for most of 1985, but he returned in 1986 to win national titles in the 100-meter and long jump once again. In 1987, he repeated his triple victory at the national championships and won the long jump in the world championships, where he finished second to Ben Johnson of Canada in the 100-meter.
He was just behind Johnson again at the 1988 Olympics, but the Canadian sprinter was disqualified when he tested positive for steroids and Lewis was awarded the gold medal. His time was a world record 9.93 seconds. He also won the long jump and ran on the gold medal 4 by 100-meter relay team.
Often outspoken, Lewis boycotted the 1989 national championships, criticizing The Athletics Congress for not doing enough to stop drug use by track and field athletes. He also cut down on his sprint schedule and began to concentrate on the high jump in the hope of breaking Bob Beamon's 1968 world record of 29 feet, 21/2 inches.
However, that record fell to Mike Powell at the 1991 world championships. Although Lewis turned in the greatest three-jump series in history, surpassing 28 feet easily on each attempt, he couldn't beat Powell's leap of 29-41/2. But he did win the world championship in the 100-meter.
By the 1992 Olympics, Lewis's star seemed to be in decline. He failed to qualify for either of the sprints and won a spot on the 4 by 100-meter relay team only because another runner was injured. However, he won his seventh and eighth gold medals, in the long jump and the relay. For the fifth time in his career, he anchored a team to a world record in the 4 by 100.
His performance spurred Mel Rose, the coach of the U. S. team, to comment, "I've said it all along: Carl is the greatest athlete I have ever seen, and he proves it time and time again." Lewis said he'd like to be back for the 1996 Olympics, but it seemed doubtful after his difficult 1993 season. A chronic back injury, aggravated by an auto accident, kept him out of the long jump for most of the year, he didn't win a 100-meter race all year, and his only medal in the world championships was a bronze in the 200-meter.
At 35, though, Lewis did return to the Olympics, competing only in the long jump. He won it for the fourth time, giving him nine gold medals for his career.
The Associated Press male athlete of the year in 1983 and 1984, Lewis won the Sullivan Award as the nation's outstanding amateur athlete of 1981.