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Carl Lewis
winning his fourth consecutive Olympic long jump gold medal
was
honored by USA Track & Field as the eighth
greatest moment in U.S. track and field history in the last
25 years.
It seemed
strange that the great Carl Lewis could enter an Olympic
Games as an underdog, but such was the case in 1996 as Lewis
attempted to equal Al Oerter's feat of winning four gold
medals in the same event at four consecutive Olympics.
After barely
making the U.S. team with his third-place finish at the
Olympic Trials earlier that summer, the 35-year-old Lewis
heard the many skeptics who doubted his ability to win gold
in Atlanta.
After two
rounds of qualifying Lewis stood in 15th place
and needed a clutch performance on his final attempt to
qualify for the final. Never one to shy away from a
challenge, Lewis sailed to 8.29 meters/27 feet, 2.50 inches
on his final attempt to enter the final as the top
qualifier.
Lewis trailed
going into the third round of the final when he unleashed a
jump of 8.50m/27-10.75, which held as the best of the day
and gave him his cherished fourth Olympic long jump gold
medal. In capturing the ninth career gold medal of his
remarkable career, Lewis tied legendary Finnish runner Paavo
Nurmi for the most career gold medals in Olympic track and
field history.
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