LEWIS' FOUR GOLD MEDALS NAMED 4th GREATEST MOMENT

 

 
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Carl Lewis winning four gold medals at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles was honored by USA Track & Field as the fourth-greatest moment in U.S. track and field history in the last 25 years.

Carl Lewis entered the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles with the goal of duplicating the quadruple gold medal-winning performance by the great Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Lewis began his quest in the 100 meters, where he easily beat a tremendous field to the finish with his time of 9.99 seconds. Lewis' teammate, Sam Graddy, was the distant runner-up and silver medalist in 10.19.

Lewis ran two heats in the 200 meters on the morning of the long jump final. It was an abbreviated long jump competition for Lewis, who posted the gold medal winning jump of 8.54 meters/28 feet, 0.25 inches, on his first attempt. He stopped jumping after a foul on his second attempt, already knowing that the gold medal was his.

After a good start in the 200m final, Lewis entered the straight with a two-meter lead that held the rest of the way. Lewis won the gold in 19.80 seconds, with his U.S. teammate and training partner, Kirk Baptiste, taking the silver medal in 19.96.

Lewis captured his fourth gold medal of the L.A. games in style by anchoring Team USA's 4x100m relay that won gold in the world-record time of 37.83 seconds. Lewis' unofficial split from a flying start was timed at 8.94 seconds, and he more than doubled his team's lead to eight meters down the final stretch.

To win four gold medals at the 1984 Olympic Games, Lewis competed in 13 qualifying rounds and final events over the course of eight days.

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