Carol Lewis
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Competitor for  United States |
||
| Women's track and field | ||
| Olympic Boycott Games | ||
| Silver | 1980 Philadelphia | Long jump |
| World Championships | ||
| Bronze | 1983 Helsinki | Long jump |
| World Cup in Athletics | ||
| Bronze | 1985 Canberra | Long jump |
Carol LeGrant Lewis (born August 8, 1963) is an American former track and field athlete who specialised in the long jump. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, she is the sister of former world record holder Carl Lewis.[1]
She first came to prominence as a high school athlete, setting the high school indoor long jump record at 21' 7.5" in 1981.[2] She later went to the University of Houston, where she had followed her older brother. She also joined her brother on the Santa Monica Track Club. She first competed internationally at the 1980 Olympic Boycott Games, taking the silver medal with a jump of 6.60 meters. She won the Dial Award that year in recognition of her achievements. She won the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships for the first time in 1982, the first of four National championships.[3] Her 6.81m jump from that competition is the current United States, North American and Pan American Junior record.[4] Further success came in 1983, with a win at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and bronze medal at the 1983 World Championships in Athletics.[5]
After winning the Olympic Trials, she represented the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics and managed to finish in ninth place, aged twenty. The following year she won the NCAA Outdoor Championships for a second time and took bronze at the World Cup in Athletics. In Zürich in August that year, Lewis reached her peak, setting a personal best and breaking the American record in the long jump twice at the same track meeting.[5] Her record of 7.04 m stood for two years until it was beaten by Jackie Joyner-Kersee.[6]
She competed at the 1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships, finishing in ninth position with a best jump of 6.23 m. She represented the US at the Olympics for a third time, but she failed to qualify for the final at the 1988 Olympics.[5]
Following her retirement from track and field, she went on to work as a commentator for various events for NBC Sports.[5] She commentated on the track events for the 1996, 2000 and 2008 Summer Olympics.[7]
In 2000 she began competing in two-woman bobsled and, although she failed to make the 2002 US Olympic team, she served as Shauna Rohbock's brakeman at the 2002 World Cup in Calgary.[7]
[edit] Personal bests
| Event | Date | Venue | Mark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long jump | 21 August 1985 | Zürich, Switzerland | 7.04 meters (AR 1985–1987) |
- All information taken from IAAF Profile.[8]
[edit] References
- ^ Carol Lewis biography. Sports-reference. Retrieved on 2009-06-17.
- ^ Shepard, Jack (2009). High School Track 2010. Jack Shepard.
- ^ http://www.usatf.org/statistics/champions/USAOutdoorTF/women/wLJ.asp
- ^ http://www.iaaf.org/statistics/toplists/inout=o/age=j/season=0/sex=W/all=y/legal=A/disc=LJ/detail.html
- ^ a b c d Graffit-e. University of Houston. Retrieved on 2009-06-17.
- ^ Long Jump All Time. IAAF (2009-06-02). Retrieved on 2009-06-17.
- ^ a b Hiestand, Michael (2006-02-20). Gumbel's comments don't ring true for NBC pioneer Lewis. USA Today. Retrieved on 2009-06-17.
- ^ Biography Lewis, Carol. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-06-17.
[edit] External links
- IAAF profile for Carol Lewis
- Profile at sports-reference
- American long jumpers
- High school national record holder
- Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- 1963 births
- Living people
- People from Birmingham, Alabama
- African American track and field athletes
- African American female track and field athletes
