Carl Lewis

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Lewis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on July 1, 1961, the son of William Lewis and Evelyn Lawler Lewis. His mother was a hurdler on the 1951 Pan-Am team. His elder brother Cleveland Lewis played professional soccer for the Memphis Rogues. Lewis was initially coached by his father, and at age 13 began competing in the long jump. He enrolled at the University of Houston where Tom Tellez became his coach for his entire career. Days after graduating from high school in 1979, he broke the high school long jump record with a leap of 8.13 m. He won the 1980 NCAA title with a wind-assisted jump of 8.35 m. Lewis qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but did not compete due to the boycott; he instead won a bronze in the long jump and a gold in the 4 × 100 m relay at the Liberty Bell Classic. He received one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals for the 1980 U.S. Summer Olympics team.

In Their Own Story

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. He started his quest to match Owens with a convincing win in the 100m. Earlier in his career, at the 1983 TAC Championships on June 19, he set a new low-altitude record in the long jump, 8.79 m (28 ft 10 in). At the same meet, he won the 200 m in 19.75 s, the second-fastest time in history and the low-altitude record, only 0.03 s behind Pietro Mennea's 1979 mark. Observers noted that Lewis probably could have broken the world record if he did not ease off in the final meters to raise his arms in celebration. He also anchored the 4 × 100 m relay to a new world record of 37.86 s at the 1983 World Championships.

Reader's Guide

Lewis dominated the 100 m, 200 m, and long jump from 1981 to the early 1990s. He set world records in the 100 m, 4 × 100 m and 4 × 200 m relays, and his indoor long jump world record has stood since 1984. His 65 consecutive victories in the long jump over ten years is one of the sport's longest undefeated streaks. He broke 10 seconds for the 100 meters fifteen times and 20 seconds for the 200 meters ten times. He long jumped over 8.53 metres 71 times. He was voted 'World Athlete of the Century' by the IAAF, 'Sportsman of the Century' by the IOC, 'Olympian of the Century' by Sports Illustrated, and 'Athlete of the Year' by Track & Field News in 1982, 1983, and 1984. After retiring, he became an actor and appeared in films. In 2011, he attempted to run as a Democrat for the New Jersey Senate but was removed from the ballot due to residency requirements. He owns a marketing and branding company named C.L.E.G.

Did You Know?

• Lewis is one of six athletes to win gold in the same individual event in four consecutive Olympic Games.
• He is one of two people to win gold in the same individual athletics event in four Olympic Games, along with USA discus thrower Al Oerter.
• His world record in the indoor long jump has stood since 1984.
• Lewis topped the world rankings in the 100 m, 200 m, and long jump frequently from 1981 to the early 1990s.