Carl Lewis: The greatest athlete of the 20th century

When you look at the candidates for greatest athletes of the 20th century, there are a few names that come to mind, Jesse Owens and Michael Johnson for instance. But there's one name that stands above the rest, Carl Lewis.

Competing in the 100m sprint, 4x100m relay, the long jump, and the 200m, Lewis dominated the world of track and field during the 80s and 90s. The American qualified to compete at the 1980 Games in Moscow, but Team USA boycotted the Games, so he made his Olympic debut in 1984.

According to the Britannica website, at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, Lewis won four gold medals in his events, securing gold in the 100m (9.9s), the 200m (19.8s), the long jump (8.54m), and the 4x100m, in which he was the star of the team.

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Lewis became the third track and field athlete to win four gold medals at a single Olympics, after Alvin Kraenzlein (1900) and the famous Jesse Owens (1936). Owens won the same four events at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

At the 1988 Seoul Games, Lewis became the first long jumper to win consecutive gold medals at an Olympic Games, with a leap of 8.72m. In the 100m, Lewis initially lost to Canadian Ben Johnson, but three days later, he was disqualified for taking steroids, so Lewis got the win with a time of 9.92s.

The American legend continued his dominance at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, winning a third consecutive long jump gold medal (8.67m). He again anchored the 4x100m relay team and helped set an Olympic and world record of 37.40s, winning his eighth Olympic gold.

A 35-year-old Lewis somehow qualified for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, competing in the long jump. Despite it being far from his personal best, Lewis won his ninth and final gold medal, recording a leap of 8.5m.

In 1997, Lewis retired from competition with ten Olympic medals in track and field. The total was surpassed in 2021 by Allyson Felix. Two years later, the International Olympic Committee recognized Lewis as the Sportsman of the Century.

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According to the Los Angeles Times, Wade Exum, the US Olympic Committee's director of drug control administration from 1991-2000, gave copies of documents to Sports Illustrated, highlighting athletes that had failed drug tests from 1988-2000, arguing they shouldn't have competed.

Lewis was on the list after three positive results for pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine in 1988. All were banned in sports, but were available over the desks in shops. Lewis claimed he took them by accident, and the substances were analyzed to prove his claims.

In later life, Lewis was featured on TV shows and films, but the most interesting thing he did was run as a Democrat for the New Jersey Senate in the state's 8th legislative district in Burlington County. He was quickly disqualified after failing to meet the requirements to live in New Jersey for over four years.

As of 2024, Lewis is the head track and field coach at his alma mater, the University of Houston. He is currently 63 years old.

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