Carl Lewis, born Frederick Carlton Lewis on July 1, 1961, in Birmingham, Alabama, U.S., is a legendary track and field athlete who dominated the 1980s and 1990s, capturing a record-breaking nine Olympic gold medals.
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Olympian With 8 Gold Medals in Sprinting Crossword
Lewis made the cut for the 1980 U.S. Olympic squad but did not compete due of the country’s boycott of the Moscow Olympics. While competing for the United States at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Lewis won four gold medals: in the 100-meter (9.9 seconds), 200-meter (19.8 seconds), long jump (8.54 metres [28.02 feet], and 4 100-meter relay, which he led).
As a result of his success in Los Angeles, Lewis joined American track and field greats Alvin Kraenzlein (1900) and Jesse Owens (1936), who also won four gold medals in the Olympics. After winning the first ever Olympic long-jump gold medal with a leap of 8.72 metres at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, Lewis won two additional gold medals and a silver medal at the 1988 Games in Seoul (28.61 feet).
Lewis had four of the competition’s greatest jumps, and his Olympic gold was the latest in a series of victories over the long jump that he compiled over the course of several years in the 1980s.
After Canadian Ben Johnson, who had won in world record time (9.79 sec), was disqualified three days later for testing positive for anabolic steroids, Carl Lewis won the 100 metre dash with a timing of 9.92 seconds at the 1988 Olympics. Lewis finished second in the 200-meter race.
Lewis Won Two More Gold Medals at The 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
This included his third straight long-jump crown with a leap of 8.67 metres (28.44 feet). Lewis, once again serving as the team’s anchor, led the United States to an Olympic and world record-setting performance in the 4 x 100-meter relay (their seventh gold medal overall).
The 35-year-old Lewis “ran through” his first long jump attempt and finished with an unremarkable 8.14 metres (26.71 feet) at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, surprising no one.
While his third jump of 8.5 metres (27.89 feet) was not his greatest, it was the best of the competition, and it earned Lewis his ninth gold medal. He stopped competing professionally in 1997. The International Olympic Committee honoured him as “Sportsman of the Century” two years later.
In a number of his film and TV roles, Lewis played himself. He was involved with many different organisations, and in 2001 he launched the Carl Lewis Foundation, whose mission is to encourage healthy lifestyles.
Lewis, a Democrat, declared his candidature for a Senate seat in New Jersey in 2011. Later, his residency in the state was called into question, and in September, Lewis dropped out of the contest.
