The revenge of the ‘Son of the wind’

When Carl Lewis landed in Barcelona he had nothing to prove. He accumulated six golds in the two Olympic events he had attended: Los Angeles’84 y Seoul’88. Among those prizes were the one that Ben Johnson he stole from him with tricks in the South Korean capital in what were the fastest 100 meters in history until then. In reality, the one from Alabama was a myth since in 1984 he equaled the feat of his admired Jesse Owens by winning the 100 and 200 meter dash, the 4×100 and the long jump test, the same ones that his countryman had conquered in Berlin to the displeasure of Hitler. He had, however, a pending account: to complete his revenge for the painful defeat he had inflicted on him. Mike Powell in Tokyo a year earlier.

In the Japanese capital, the streak of 65 consecutive wins with which the best long jumper of all time arrived at the World Cup was ended. Exceed the 8.90 that Bob Beamon established in the ’68 Mexico Games was always his desire. It was his time. He signed an impeccable contest, with a 8,91 that the tailwind truncated as a record. The glory belonged to him… until Mike Powell reached the 8,95 with just 0.3 meters per second of tailwind. The most legendary brand fell and not at the hands of the one who seemed predestined to burst it.

The 31 years with which Carl Lewis faced the Barcelona event played against him in the trials, where he did not get the ticket for the 100 and 200 meters. The long jump served as a refuge. There he got even with Powell, whom he surpassed by 3 centimeters.8.67, for 8.64 of his compatriot – and won his third gold in his favorite event. She also won the 4×100, which raised its tally of medals in said metal to eight. And I would still add another, in Atlanta’96of course, in length.