51 Facts About Carl Lewis

Frederick Carlton Lewis was born on July 1,1961 and is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold.

Carl Lewis's career spanned from 1979 to 1996, when he last won an Olympic event.

Carl Lewis is one of only six Olympic athletes who won a gold medal in the same individual event in four consecutive Olympic Games.

Frederick Carlton Lewis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on July 1,1961, the son of William Lewis and Evelyn nee Lawler Lewis.

Carl Lewis's mother was a hurdler on the 1951 Pan-Am team.

Carl Lewis's parents ran a local athletics club that provided a crucial influence on both him and his sister, Carol.

Carl Lewis became an elite long jumper, finishing ninth at the 1984 Olympics and taking bronze at the 1983 World Championships.

Carl Lewis was initially coached by his father, who coached other local athletes to elite status.

At age 13, Carl Lewis began competing in the long jump, and he emerged as a promising athlete while coached by Andy Dudek and Paul Minore at Willingboro High School in his hometown of Willingboro Township, New Jersey.

Carl Lewis achieved the ranking of fourth on the all-time World Junior list of long jumpers.

The Olympic boycott precluded Carl Lewis from competing in Moscow; he instead participated in the Liberty Bell Classic in July 1980, which was an alternate meet for boycotting nations.

Carl Lewis received one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the athletes precluded from competing in the 1980 Olympics.

Carl Lewis said he should have been credited with that jump, claiming the track officials misinterpreted the rules on fouls.

Carl Lewis was again named Athlete of the Year by the magazine.

At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Carl 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.

Carl Lewis risked injury in the cool conditions of the day if he over-extended himself, and his ultimate goal to win four golds might be at risk.

Carl Lewis fouled on his next jump and then passed on his remaining four allotted jumps.

Carl Lewis himself had often stated it was a goal of his to surpass the mark.

Douglas said he was inaccurately quoted, but the impression that Carl Lewis was aloof and egotistical was firmly planted in the public's perception by the end of the 1984 Olympic Games.

Additionally, rumors circulated at that time that Carl Lewis was gay, and though Carl Lewis denied the rumors, they probably hurt his marketability as well.

Similarly, Carl Lewis was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys as a wide receiver in the 12th round of the 1984 NFL Draft, even though he did not play football in college.

Carl Lewis retained his number one rank that year; Johnson would place second.

At year's end, Johnson was ranked number one, while Carl Lewis slipped to number three, having lost more races than he won.

Carl Lewis even seemed vulnerable in the long jump, an event he did not lose in 1986, or the year before, though he competed sparingly.

Johnson had run under 10.00 s three times in the year before Rome, while Carl Lewis had not managed to get under the 10.00 s barrier at all.

Carl Lewis's detractors noted that the problem had been in the sport for many years, and it only became a cause for Lewis once he was actually defeated.

Johnson won in 9.79 s, a new world record, while Lewis set a new American record with 9.92 s Three days later, Johnson tested positive for steroids, his medal was taken away and Lewis was awarded gold and credited with a new Olympic record.

The IAAF declared that Carl Lewis had, therefore, twice tied the "true" world record for his 1987 World Championship performance, and again at the 1988 Zurich meet where he defeated Johnson.

Carl Lewis lost the top ranking for the long jump in 1990 but was able to regain it in 1992.

Carl Lewis could be seen with tears in his eyes afterwards.

Carl Lewis was up against his main rival of the last few years, Mike Powell, the silver medalist in the event from the 1988 Olympics and the top-ranked long jumper of 1990.

Carl Lewis had at that point not lost a long jump competition in a decade, winning the 65 consecutive meets in which he competed.

Carl Lewis still had two jumps left, although he was now no longer chasing Beamon, but Powell.

Carl Lewis thus lost his first long jump competition in a decade.

Carl Lewis covered the final leg in 8.85 seconds, the fastest officially recorded anchor leg.

Injuries kept Carl Lewis largely sidelined for the next few years, then he made a comeback for the 1996 season.

Carl Lewis had skipped the mandatory relay training camp and demanded to run the anchor leg, which added to the debate.

Carl Lewis's case was summarily dismissed by the Denver federal Court for lack of evidence.

Carl Lewis was among the named athletes and Exum's documents revealed that at the 1988 Olympics trials he had three positive results on a combined test for pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine.

Carl Lewis defended himself, claiming that he had accidentally consumed the banned substances.

The highest level of the stimulants Carl Lewis recorded was 6 ppm, which was regarded as a positive test in 1988 but is regarded as negative test.

In 2010, Carl Lewis was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

In 2016, Carl Lewis was inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

Carl Lewis played Stu in the made-for-TV movie Atomic Twister.

In 2011, Carl Lewis appeared in the short documentary Challenging Impossibility which features the feats of strength demonstrated by the late spiritual teacher and peace advocate Sri Chinmoy.

Carl Lewis appealed his decision to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals; the court initially granted his appeal but a few days later the court reversed itself and Carl Lewis withdrew his name.

Carl Lewis has a son named Bakim, who is a singer songwriter and lives in Houston Texas.

Carl Lewis became a vegan in 1990, during his late twenties, and has credited his outstanding 1991 results in part to his vegan diet.

Carl Lewis has said that it is better suited to him because he can eat a larger quantity without affecting his athleticism, and he believes that switching to a vegan diet can lead to improved athletic performance.

Carl Lewis sang a memorable rendition of"The Star-Spangled Banner" during the 1993 NBA Finals.

At a 2019 Pan American Games news conference, and in the aftermath of the deadly El Paso and Dayton shootings, Carl Lewis called then-US President Donald Trump "a racist who is prejudiced, misogynistic, who doesn't value anyone outside of himself".