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 15^th 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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