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Peter Scrivener

Olympic countdown - 9 days - King Carl


American athlete Carl Lewis wins the first of his four Olympic long jump titles at the 1984 Los Angeles Games

If you were asked to name the greatest Olympian of all time, I bet the name Carl Lewis would feature more than any other.

In the mid-1990s I would probably have chosen the same, but an admission by Lewis a few years back that he failed three drugs tests during the 1988 US Olympic trials casts a severe shadow over his achievements for me.

He is ranked fourth best in terms of medals won, and his list of achievements at the Games are, on paper, outstanding.

Lewis was the golden boy of the 1984 Los Angeles Games when he emulated Jesse Owens' legendary 1936 haul by winning the 100m, 200m, long jump and 4x100m relay titles.

He followed that by becoming the only man to retain the 100m and long jump titles four years later in Seoul, although he was beaten into second place in the 200m by Joe DeLoach in 1988 and missed out on a relay run when the American team dropped the baton in the heats.

By the time the Barcelona Games came round in 1992, Lewis was fading on the track and failed to qualify for the US team in the 100m or 200m. But he won an unprecedented third long jump title and anchored the relay team to victory in a world record 37.40 seconds that is yet to be beaten.

And he bid farewell to the Olympics at the 1996 Centennial Games with a fourth long jump gold medal to match Finland's Paavo Nurmi as the only track and field star to win nine Olympic titles.

He also equalled fellow American, discus thrower, Al Oerter's record of winning four consecutive individual titles.

There was also much debate over whether Lewis should be given a place in the 4x100m relay team in Atlanta to give him a shot at becoming the first athlete to win 10 golds, but the US Olympic Committee quashed the idea as Lewis had missed the training camp.

There are of course many stories to go with his Olympic titles, such as the feud with Ben Johnson prior to the 100m final at the 1988 Olympic Games, or his controversial decision to skip the last four rounds of the 1984 long jump competition which led to boos from the crowd.

But it is the recent revelations and Lewis' "who cares" attitude that have soured his Olympic record for me.

What are your thoughts on the man named Sportsman of the Century by the International Olympic Committee?

Peter Scrivener is a BBC Sport Journalist. Our FAQs should answer any questions you have.


Comments

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  • 1. At 1:16pm on 30 Jul 2008, dansmith87 wrote:

    As mentioned in this blog, I have to agree that Lewis' reputation has been tarnished slightly in recent years.

    I recently read an interview with Ben Johnson in which he made some worrying remarks about their rivalry in 1988, included Johnson feeling he was drugged by a member of Lewis' team. Of course the source has to be questioned but if it were to be true then Lewis' achievements could be put into serious doubt.

    Jesse Owens' achievements in 1936 with the political backdrop he had to contend with I feel make him a better contender for Sportsman of the Century

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  • 2. At 3:26pm on 30 Jul 2008, eusebio70 wrote:

    Totally agree with dansmith87 - Jesse Owens is far more deserving of the title.

    I too feel Lewis' achievements are tainted after his drugs admissions - in fact athletics as a whole has had a severe credibility issue since the mid 80s.

    The drugs issues are on a par with professional cycling, except cycling seems to be trying to put its house in order.

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  • 3. At 10:23pm on 30 Jul 2008, hessa67 wrote:

    Drugs and sport.

    I would agree that Jesse Owens has to be the outstanding performance especially when you consider the backdrop to the games.

    I am more concerned about the drugs issue today. I don't agree with the Chambers saga however I wonder about the judgment to have Christine Ohuruogu as the face of the UK at these games. If you are a professional athlete you will understand the importance of attendance at drugs testing, to miss this once is a mistake but to do this more than once is risking you career. I think another athlete would have been a more appropriate choice.

    I know she has been cleared and she was probably innocent, she is however guilty of sheer stupidity.

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  • 4. At 1:18pm on 31 Jul 2008, BeijingBull wrote:

    How can you possibly consider Carl Lewis to be the greatest Olympian when your column begins by stating Lewis's admission that he failed three drugs tests before the 1988 Olympics? With what we now know about the cover up culture practiced by the US Olympic and Track and Field Associations, it would be ridiculous to think that his tests were only covered up three times. It is far more probable that he was allowed to break the rules with impunity throughout his career as Americans don't like to think of their icons having feet of clay.

    I have a vivid memory from Seoul '88. It is of Carl Lewis's face when he heard that Ben Johnson had failed his test after his victory in the 100m. Lewis didn't look shocked, or relieved that the system had worked. He was quiet, hesitant and looked ashen: not the demeanour of someone who'd just been told he'd been 'rightly' promoted to the top of the rostrum. There had been questions asked in the world's (but not America's) media, not just about his achievements, but his phenomenal ability to recover between events held so close to each other. After the Olympics that year he was, as usual, welcomed home as the conquering hero.

    Americans don't care how they win so long as they do. Not only do they not like losers, they could never accept the notion of being beaten 'bah dang furners!'

    Drugs have been a clandestinely accepted part of all American sport for 50 years: How many 'dang furners' have been cheated of their rightful honours by citizens of God's Own Country in that time? and what would the Olympic medal tables, always topped by USA, look like had the USOA not hidden their own results behind accusations against other countries?

    There is not a single Olympics eligible country which can claim, irrefutably, that they have never knowingly been represented by cheats of one sort or another, but none have claimed more brassily, or more often, to be whiter than white, than the bearers of 'Old Glory.'

    As for this fairly shallow debate about The World's Greatest Olympian, there can only be two candidates, one male, one female, both from more than sixty years ago, so BOTH CLEAN: Fanny Blankers-Koen (Holland, 4 golds, London 1948) and Jesse Owens (USA, 4 golds, Berlin 1936). It would be crass to elevate one above the other.

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  • 5. At 2:14pm on 31 Jul 2008, bravesophia001 wrote:

    This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.

  • 6. At 7:59pm on 31 Jul 2008, skharjun wrote:

    Dearest trickyseampicker,

    For one so disgusted by this "shallow debate," you seem to be casting rather broad and thoroughly unfair (and I daresay shallow) blanket statements. It's not particularly sportsmanlike to insist that "Americans don't care how they win so long as they do," and to consistently repeat such a statement with no clearly stated evidence. Modifying otherwise weak and unsupported assertions with words like "irrefutably" does not make you correct, it simply makes you pompous. You may hold your stereotypes about American perceptions of " 'dang furners' " if you'd like, but please do not perpetuate these ridiculously outdated biases by posting them publicly in an otherwise peaceful forum. I did not choose to be born an American--neither does anyone--and I resent your malignant tendency to classify all Americans as greedy, selfish, unsportsmanlike cheats. For the record, I and most Americans are equally as repulsed by the actions of Lewis and the USOA as you are. I thank you for understanding why I take offense to your self-indulgent prattle, and I thank you for changing your ways for the good of everyone in this forum.

    Cheers,
    Spencer

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  • 7. At 05:11am on 01 Aug 2008, Grittylankan wrote:

    I cannot believe that Paavo Nurmi and Emile Zatopek are not mentioned among the top list of candidates for the crown "The Greatest Olympian". Edwin Moses and Michael Johnson should also be outside contenders.

    As for "King Carl", I was sad about his revelations because wasn't he sensational. Apart from the sprints his marvellous match-up with Mike Powell in the long jump at the 1991 World Championships is the stuff of dreams.
    However if he was a drugs offender then no way should he be considered as a great.

    Do you think everybody was too harsh on the East Germans what with the Marion Jones saga and all?

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  • 8. At 5:19pm on 24 Aug 2008, peteark wrote:

    What a fantasic Games and cracking coverage by the BBC

    Jim
    http://www.bulgariasfinest.com

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  • 9. At 7:21pm on 29 Aug 2008, peteark wrote:

    Your right Jim roll on 2012

    Chris
    http://www.business-sale.com

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