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Olympic Champion he may have been and the only sprinter to better 10sec.
in 1985 but Carl Lewis was not selected by the U.S.A. for that year's
World Cup. His had been an injury-prone season and 1986 proved to be
similarly disappointing. He failed to better 10sec. all season, (apart
from an illegal 9.91 wind-assisted run) ranked 5th in the world with
10.06sec. and saw Ben Johnson take his glory as the world's fastest man.
However, the world's most recognised athlete still reigned supreme in
the long jump. Perhaps 1987 and the second World Championships would
re-establish him as the top man. Yes and no would be a fair answer.'
No', because Ben Johnson won the World 100m. title in a stunning new
world record of 9.83sec. with Lewis second in 9.93sec. (or so it seemed)
and 'yes' because Lewis retained his long jump title with 8m. 67cm. (seen above completing in the final)
from Robert Emmiyani (URS) 8.53 and then added a sixth world
championship gold medal to his collection when he anchored the 4x100m.
relay quartet of Lee McRae, Lee McNeill and Harvey Glance with an
8.86sec. final leg.
What Lewis could not know until well after the 1988
Olympic Games was that Ben Johnson would be stripped of his world record
for drug-taking. Following that disqualification Johnson's gold medal
would be awarded to Lewis instead and his time of 9.93sec. designated
the new world record. Lewis did not contend the 200m. which Calvin Smith
retained in 20.16sec. Of interest is the fact that both Lewis and
Johnson touched 42.35 km./hour or 26.32mph at different stages of the
100m. final, albeit Johnson with a little help from the pharmaceutical
industry. (George Herringshaw)
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