In the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Carl Lewis (born 1961) became the first athlete, since Jesse Owens in 1936, to win four gold medals in Olympic competition. In 1996 he competed in the long jump event at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta, winning his fourth gold medal in that event.

Qualifying for the United States Olympic team every four years since 1980, athlete Carl Lewis has won nine Olympic gold medals in four different events and held world records in the 100-meter dash and the long jump. Lewis's long domination at the Olympics and other international events is particularly remarkable in light of his sport of choice--track and field. The grueling demands of sprinting, long jumping, and relays demand youth and vigor. Lewis has defied not only the stopwatch but the march of time and has become, in the words of fellow athlete Mike Powell in Sports Illustrated, "the best track and...