60 Fun Facts About Carl Lewis

How many Olympic gold medals did Carl Lewis win?

He added one silver, in the 200 m at Seoul, and eight World Championship golds.

How many World Championships medals did Lewis win in his career?

Eight of them were gold; he ruled the 100 m, 200 m and long jump rankings through the 1980s.

How many consecutive long-jump competitions did Lewis win over ten years?

It is one of the longest undefeated streaks in the sport.

In which city was Lewis born on July 1, 1961?

His mother Evelyn had been a hurdler on the 1951 Pan-Am team.

Which sister of Lewis took long-jump bronze at the 1983 World Championships?

Their parents ran a local athletics club; brother Cleveland played pro soccer.

Who coached Lewis at university and then for the rest of his career?

Lewis is now head track and field coach at that same university.

Why did Lewis miss the 1980 Olympics after qualifying in two events?

He competed instead at the Liberty Bell Classic and got one of 461 special Congressional Gold Medals.

What did Lewis refuse to have appended to his records, so he skipped meets in thin air?

All the existing sprint and long-jump records had been set in Mexico City's thin air.

Which honour for America's top amateur athlete did Lewis win in 1981?

That year he first ranked number one in the world in both the 100 m and long jump.

Whose 1968 long-jump record of 8.90 m did Lewis chase throughout his career?

Beamon appeared in a TV ad before the 1984 final saying, 'I hope you make it, kid.'

With what time in 1983 did Lewis become the first man under 10 seconds at sea level?

He did it in Modesto on May 14, the year of the first World Championships.

Where were the first IAAF World Championships held in 1983, where Lewis won three golds?

He took the 100 m, long jump and 4 x 100 m relay, the last in a world-record 37.86 s.

Whose 1936 feat did Lewis match with four golds at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics?

He won the 100 m, 200 m, long jump and 4 x 100 m relay.

Why was Lewis booed during the 1984 Olympic long jump he won?

His first jump of 8.54 m was enough to win and he was saving himself for the 200 m and relay.

What time did Lewis anchor the US 4 x 100 m relay to in Los Angeles, a world record?

It was his fourth gold of the Games.

Lewis's agent damaged his image in 1984 by comparing him to which pop star?

Coca-Cola withdrew a deal and Nike dropped him.

Which NBA team drafted Lewis 208th overall in 1984 despite him never playing basketball?

An NBA.com poll ranked it the second most unusual draft pick ever, behind Lusia Harris.

Which NFL team drafted Lewis as a wide receiver in the 12th round of the 1984 draft?

He had not played college football and never played in the NFL either.

Which sportswear company did Lewis sign with after Nike dropped him?

A Nike rep said the American public wanted male athletes to 'look macho'.

Which Canadian beat Lewis with a 9.83 s world record at the 1987 World Championships in Rome?

Lewis ran 9.93 s, tying the old record, and then hinted at drug use in the sport.

What did Lewis place in his father's hand at his burial in 1987?

'Don't worry,' he told his mother. 'I'll get another one.'

Why did Lewis's 9.78 s at the 1988 Olympic trials not count as a world record?

It came at Indianapolis before the Seoul Games.

How many days after the Seoul 100 m final was the winner stripped of gold for steroids?

Lewis's time became an American record and, eventually, the ratified world record.

Who beat Lewis to 200 m gold in Seoul in 19.75 s?

Lewis's 19.79 s dipped under his own Olympic record but only earned silver.

Why did Lewis never run the 4 x 100 m relay final in Seoul?

The Americans fumbled a baton exchange.

From January 1, 1990, Lewis held the 100 m world record with which time?

Johnson's records were struck out after he admitted steroid use under oath.

Which college teammate broke Lewis's 100 m record with 9.90 s in June 1991?

Lewis took the record back two months later in Tokyo.

What world-record time did Lewis run to win the 100 m at the 1991 Tokyo Worlds?

Six men broke ten seconds; he called it 'the best race of my life' and did it at thirty.

Who beat Lewis in the legendary 1991 Tokyo long-jump final, ending his ten-year streak?

Lewis's wind-aided 8.91 m was the longest jump ever recorded, but it could not count as a record.

How far did Powell jump to set the world record in Tokyo?

Lewis answered with 8.87 m and 8.84 m; the three marks remain the top three low-altitude jumps ever.

What time did Lewis anchor the US 4 x 100 m team to at the 1991 Tokyo Worlds?

It was the third time that year he had anchored a squad to a world record.

For which team did Lewis anchor a 4 x 200 m relay world record in early 1992?

He failed to make the 1992 US team in the 100 m or 200 m, finishing fourth behind Michael Johnson in the latter.

How fast was Lewis's anchor leg in the 37.40 s relay world record at Barcelona 1992?

It is the fastest officially recorded anchor leg, and the record stood for 16 years.

What was Lewis's only World Championship medal in the 200 m?

His 19.99 s in Stuttgart proved his last global medal in a running event.

With what jump did Lewis win his fourth Olympic long-jump gold at Atlanta in 1996?

He beat Jamaica's James Beckford by 21 cm at the age of 35.

Which discus thrower shares Lewis's feat of four straight golds in one athletics event?

Sailor Paul Elvstrøm was the third to do it in any sport before Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky joined them.

Why was Lewis left off the US 4 x 100 m squad in Atlanta despite public lobbying?

The team finished second to Canada; a tenth gold would have been an Olympic record.

What did Lewis test positive for three times at the 1988 Olympic trials?

A supplement contained ma huang; the USOC accepted inadvertent use and the IAAF later agreed.

Which title did the IOC give Lewis in 1999?

The IAAF named him World Athlete of the Century and Sports Illustrated Olympian of the Century.

What diet did Lewis adopt in 1990 and credit for his 1991 form?

He said he could eat more without harming his athleticism.

Why was Lewis removed from the ballot in his 2011 run for the New Jersey Senate?

An appeals court briefly reinstated him before reversing itself.

Which job at his alma mater, the University of Houston, did Lewis take on in 2023?

He was promoted from assistant coach in 2023, having been coached there himself by Tom Tellez.

In which 2024 Spanish TV show did Lewis appear disguised as a panda?

He was eliminated in the season premiere.

In which New Jersey township did Lewis grow up and go to school?

He broke the national high school long jump record days after graduating in 1979.

How many times did Lewis break 10 seconds for 100 m in his career?

He also broke 20 seconds for 200 m ten times and jumped over 8.53 m 71 times.

Lewis's world record in which event has stood since 1984?

His outdoor sprint and relay records were all eventually broken.

Carl Lewis's mother Evelyn competed on the 1951 US Pan-Am team in which discipline?

His parents ran a local athletics club that shaped both Carl and his long-jumping sister Carol.

Which sport did Lewis's elder brother Cleveland play professionally?

He turned out for the Memphis Rogues.

At what age did Lewis begin competing in the long jump?

He was coached at Willingboro High by Andy Dudek and Paul Minore and reached fourth on the all-time world junior list.

With what jump did Lewis break the US high-school long-jump record days after graduating in 1979?

By the end of that year Track and Field News ranked him fifth in the world.

At which alternative meet for boycotting nations did Lewis compete in July 1980, taking long-jump bronze?

The US 4×100 m team won gold there in 38.61 s, and Lewis received one of 461 special Congressional Gold Medals.

How many Congressional Gold Medals were struck for the members of the boycotting 1980 US Olympic team?

Lewis had qualified for Moscow in the long jump and the 4×100 m relay.

How far did Lewis jump at the 1981 TAC Championships while still a teenager, a half-metre personal best?

That same May he ran 10.00 s in Dallas, then the third-fastest 100 m in history and a low-altitude record.

Before Lewis, which 1980 Olympic champion was the only man besides Bob Beamon to have jumped beyond 28 feet?

In 1982 alone Lewis cleared 28 feet five times outdoors and twice indoors.

How far did some observers claim Lewis's famous 1982 Indianapolis foul jump reached?

Lewis argued officials misread the foul rules on a day he legally jumped a low-altitude record 8.76 m.

How many times did Lewis top the world 100 m rankings between 1981 and 1992?

It would be seven if Ben Johnson's 1987 ranking is discounted; he topped the long jump rankings nine times.

Who beat Lewis into fourth in the 200 m at the 1992 US Olympic trials, in their first ever meeting?

Johnson ran a personal best 19.79 s; Lewis failed to make the team in either sprint but qualified in the long jump.

By what margin did Lewis win the 1996 Olympic long jump over Jamaica's James Beckford?

His 8.50 m in Atlanta made him the third Olympian to win the same individual event four times.

Which Danish sailor was one of the two athletes who had won the same individual event at four Olympics before Lewis?

Michael Phelps joined the club in 2016 and Katie Ledecky in 2024.

In which 2011 documentary short did Lewis appear, about the strength feats of spiritual teacher Sri Chinmoy?

His screen credits also include cameos in Perfect Strangers and Speed Zone and the role of Stu in Atomic Twister.