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Carl Lewis must have approached the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games with
mixed feelings. Here was the greatest long jumper in history (perhaps
the greatest Olympian) defending the title only he had ever retained,
but against him was the man who had 'stolen the show' from him the year
before. Mike Powell was not only the world champion but also the world
record holder. Could his fellow American again upstage him at the
greatest sporting show on earth having already deprived him of breaking
Bob Beamon's famous world record of 8.90m. set at the 1968 Olympics?
A
virus earlier in the year slowed Lewis down and denied him the chance to
defend his 100m. title (he finished 6th in the U.S. trials). Would he
now suffer in the event synonymous with his name? He led the qualifiers
with a leap of 8.68m. (28' 5 3/4") and began the defence of his title in
the final with an almost identical jump of 8.67m. As fate would have it
that proved to be the winning jump.
Mike Powell closed in on him in
each round but his best jump of 8.64m. in the final round was not quite
good enough. King Carl had done it again. Another Olympic gold medal
brought his total to seven, he added one more when he helped Mike Marsh,
Leroy Burrell and Dennis Mitchell to win the 4x100m. relay in a new
world record of 37.40sec. Carl Lewis was now 31yrs old - could he go on
for a record equalling fourth Olympic gold in the same event ? (George
Herringshaw)
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