name	Class Action
director	Michael Apted
producer	Ted FieldScott KroopfRobert W. Cort
writer	Carolyn ShelbyChristopher AmesSamantha Shad
starring	Gene HackmanMary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
music	James Horner
editing	Ian Crafford
cinematography	Conrad L. Hall
studio	Interscope Communications
distributor	20th Century Fox
released	March 15, 1991
runtime	110min
language	English }}

''Class Action'' is a 1991 film directed by Michael Apted. Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio star; Laurence Fishburne, Colin Friels, Fred Dalton Thompson and Donald Moffat are also featured.

Plot

The story is about a lawsuit concerning injuries caused by a defective automobile. The suit takes on a personal dimension because the injured plaintiff's attorney, Jedediah Tucker Ward (Gene Hackman) is the father of the automobile manufacturer's attorney Maggie Ward (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), his estranged daughter. The central premise of the film is roughly analogous to the controversy surrounding the Ford Pinto.

Jedediah Ward is a liberal civil rights lawyer who has based his career on helping people avoid being taken for a ride by the rich and powerful; he's pursued principle at the expense of profit, though he has a bad habit of not following up on his clients after their cases are settled.

Jed's daughter, Maggie has had a bad relationship with her father ever since she discovered that he was cheating on her mother, Estelle (Joanna Merlin), and while she also has made a career in law, she has taken a very different professional route by working for a high-powered corporate law firm and has adopted a conservative political agenda.

Jed is hired to help field a lawsuit against a major auto manufacturer whose station wagons have a dangerous propensity to explode on impact while making a left turn, but while his research indicates he has an all but airtight case against them, the case becomes more complicated for him when he discovers that Maggie is representing the firm he's suing.

The auto manufacturer in the film also utilizes a "bean-counting" approach to risk management, whereby the projections of actuaries for probable deaths and injured car-owners is weighed against the cost of re-tooling and re-manufacturing the car without the defect (exploding gas tanks) with the resulting decision to keep the car as-is to positively benefit short term profitability.

Cast

Gene Hackman as Jedediah Tucker Ward

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Maggie Ward

Colin Friels as Michael Grazier

Joanna Merlin as Estelle Ward

Laurence Fishburne (Credited as Larry Fishburne) as Nick Holbrook

Donald Moffat as Quinn

Jan Rubes as Pavel

Matt Clark as Judge Symes

Fred Dalton Thompson as Dr. Getchell

Jonathan Silverman as Brian

Joan McMurtrey as Ann

Anne Ramsay as Deborah

David Byron as Carl

Tim Hopper as Howie

Robert David Hall as Steven Kellen

The Jerry Bruckheimer Connection

A trio of the film's stars would end up on two of Jerry Bruckheimer's CBS crime dramas. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio would star as FBI agent Anne Cassidy on ''Without a Trace''. Laurence Fishburne and Robert David Hall would reunite as co-stars on ''CSI''.

Notes

External links

Interview with Producer Robert Cort and writers Carolyn Shelby and Christopher Ames on the film's 20th anniversary at Abnormal Use

Category:1990s drama films Category:American drama films Category:1991 films Category:Courtroom dramas Category:Legal films Category:Films directed by Michael Apted Category:20th Century Fox films Category:Films set in San Francisco, California Category:Interscope Communications films

de:Das Gesetz der Macht es:Acción judicial it:Conflitto di classe (film) pl:Precedensowa sprawa pt:Class Action ru:Коллективный иск

name	Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
birth date	November 17, 1958
birth place	Lombard, Illinois, U.S.
spouse	Pat O'Connor (1990–present)
years active	1982–present
occupation	Actress/Singer }}

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (born November 17, 1958) is an American actress and singer known for her role as Carmen in ''The Color of Money'', as well as for her roles as Lindsey Brigman in ''The Abyss'', Gina Montana in ''Scarface'', and Maid Marian in ''Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves''.

Personal life

Mastrantonio was born in Lombard, Illinois of Italian descent, the daughter of Mary D. (née Pagone) and Frank A. Mastrantonio, who owned a bronze foundry. She was raised in Oak Park, Illinois and attended the University of Illinois.

Mastrantonio has been married to director Pat O'Connor, who helmed ''The January Man'', since 1990. The couple live in London with their sons Jack O'Connor (born 1993) and Declan O'Connor (born 1996).

Career

Mastrantonio first appeared on screen in Brian De Palma's ''Scarface'' as Gina, sister of Al Pacino's Tony Montana. She achieved prominence for her Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated role in ''The Color of Money'' opposite Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. Her other featured roles of the 1980s include ''Slam Dance'', opposite Tom Hulce and ''The January Man'' with Kevin Kline. She starred in writer/director James Cameron's science fiction blockbuster ''The Abyss'' with Ed Harris, and as Maid Marian in ''Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'', in which she replaced pregnant Robin Wright.

Mastrantonio's only high profile role since 1992's ''Consenting Adults'' was that of a fishing boat captain in ''The Perfect Storm'' (2000). She had a recurring role during the fourth and fifth seasons of the television drama ''Without a Trace''.

Mastrantonio has appeared on Broadway in various musicals, including ''West Side Story'', ''Copperfield'', ''The Human Comedy'', and the 2002 revival of ''Man of La Mancha'', in which she played Aldonza/Dulcinea opposite Brian Stokes Mitchell. She has appeared in New York Shakespeare Festival productions of ''Henry V'', ''Measure for Measure'', and ''Twelfth Night''. Her New York City stage performances have garnered her a Tony Award and two Drama Desk Award nominations. She also starred in ''Grand Hotel'' at the Donmar Warehouse in London's West End. In 1984, Mastrantonio was featured in a benefit performance of A Christmas Carol with Helen Hayes, Raul Julia, Harold Scott, F. MacIntyre Dixon, and Len Cariou at the Symphony Space in New York.

On stage, Mastrantonio starred most recently in ''A View from the Bridge'' as Beatrice, alongside Ken Stott and Allan Corduner at the Duke of York's Theatre, London.

As Captain Zoe Callas, Mastrantonio replaced Eric Bogosian, who played Captain Daniel Ross, in the ninth season of ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent''.

Complete filmography

''Scarface'' (1983)

''Mussolini: The Untold Story'' (1985) (TV)

''The Color of Money'' (1986) Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

''Slam Dance'' (1987)

''The January Man'' (1989)

''The Abyss'' (1989)

''Fools of Fortune'' (1990)

''Uncle Vanya'' (1991)

''Class Action'' (1991)

''Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' (1991)

''White Sands'' (1992)

''Consenting Adults'' (1992)

''Three Wishes'' (1995)

''Two Bits'' (1995)

''Limbo'' (1999)

''My Life So Far'' (1999)

''Witness Protection'' (1999) (TV)

''The Perfect Storm'' (2000)

''Standing Room Only'' (2004)

''The Russell Girl'' (2008)

Television

''Frasier'' (1995) - 1 Episode - Eileen (voice)

''Without a Trace'' (2005–2006) - 9 Episodes - Anne Cassidy

''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' (2010) - 14 Episodes - Capt. Zoe Callas

References

External links

Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio at the Internet Off-Broadway Database

Category:1958 births Category:Actors from Illinois Category:American female singers Category:American film actors Category:American musical theatre actors Category:American stage actors Category:American television actors Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:American people of Italian descent Category:Living people Category:People from Oak Park, Illinois Category:People from Lombard, Illinois

de:Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio es:Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio fr:Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio it:Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio he:מרי אליזבת מסטרנטוניו nl:Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio ja:メアリー・エリザベス・マストラントニオ no:Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio pl:Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio pt:Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio ru:Мастрантонио, Мэри Элизабет fi:Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio sv:Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio tl:Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio

name	Michio Kaku
birth date	January 24, 1947
birth place	San Jose, California, United States
residence	New York City, New York, United States
nationality	American
field	Theoretical physics
work institutions	City University of New YorkNew York UniversityInstitute for Advanced Study
alma mater	Harvard University (B.S., 1968)University of California, Berkeley (Ph.D.,1972)
doctoral advisor	Stanley Mandelstam
known for	String field theory, Popular science
footnotes	}}

is an American theoretical physicist, the Henry Semat Professor of Theoretical Physics in the City College of New York of City University of New York, the co-founder of string field theory, and a "communicator" and "popularizer" of science. He has written several books on physics and related topics, he has made frequent appearances on radio, television, and film, and he writes extensive online blogs and articles.

Early life and education

Kaku was born in San Jose, California to Japanese immigrant parents. His grandfather came to the United States to take part in the clean-up operation after the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. His father was born in California but was educated in Japan and spoke little English. Both his parents were put in the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, where they met and where his two brothers were born.

At Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, Kaku assembled an atom smasher in his parent's garage for a science fair project. At the National Science Fair in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he attracted the attention of physicist Edward Teller, who took Kaku as a protégé, awarding him the Hertz Engineering Scholarship. Kaku graduated ''summa cum laude'' from Harvard University in 1968 and was first in his physics class. He attended the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley and received a Ph.D. in 1972, and in 1972 he held a lectureship at Princeton University.

During the Vietnam War, Kaku completed his U.S. Army basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia and his advanced infantry training at Fort Lewis, Washington. However, the Vietnam War ended before he was deployed as an infantryman.

Academic career

Kaku became a visiting professor at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and New York University. He currently holds the Henry Semat Chair and Professorship in theoretical physics at the City College of New York.

Kaku has had over 70 articles published in physics journals such as Physical Review, covering topics such as superstring theory, supergravity, supersymmetry, and hadronic physics. In 1974, along with Prof. Keiji Kikkawa of Osaka University, he authored the first papers describing string theory in a field form.

Kaku is the author of several textbooks on string theory and quantum field theory.

Popular science

Kaku is most widely known as a popularizer of science. He has written books and appeared on many television programs as well as film. He also hosts a weekly radio program.

Books

Kaku is the author of various popular science books.

''Physics of the Future''

''Physics of the Impossible''

''Hyperspace''

''Einstein's Cosmos''

''Parallel Worlds''

''Beyond Einstein'' (with Jennifer Thompson)

''Hyperspace'' was a best-seller and was voted one of the best science books of the year by both ''The New York Times'' and ''The Washington Post''. ''Parallel Worlds'' was a finalist for the Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction in the UK.

Radio

Kaku is the host of the weekly, one-hour radio program ''Explorations'', produced by the Pacifica Foundation's WBAI in New York. "Explorations" is syndicated to community and independent radio stations and makes previous broadcasts available on the program's website. Kaku defines the show as dealing with the general topics of science, war, peace, and the environment.

In April 2006, Kaku began broadcasting ''Science Fantastic'' on 90 commercial radio stations, the only nationally syndicated science program on commercial radio in the United States. It is syndicated by Talk Radio Network and now reaches 130 radio stations and America's Talk on XM. The program is formatted as a live listener call-in show, focusing on "futurology," which he defines as the future of science. Featured guests include Nobel laureates and top researchers on the topics of string theory, time travel, black holes, gene therapy, aging, space travel, artificial intelligence, and SETI. When Kaku is busy filming for television, ''Science Fantastic'' goes on hiatus, sometimes for several months. Kaku is also a frequent guest on many programs, where he is outspoken in all areas and issues he considers of importance, such as the program "Coast to Coast AM," where on 30 November 2007, he reaffirmed his belief that there is a 100% probability of extraterrestrial life in the universe.

Kaku has appeared on ''The Opie and Anthony Show'' a number of times, discussing popular fiction such as ''Back to The Future'', ''Lost,'' and the theories behind time-travel that these and other fictional entertainment focus on. Steven G. Spruill's novel ''The Janus Equation'', which describes the time travel of a post-op transsexual mating with her past self and thereby becoming father and mother to her present self, prompted Dr. Kaku's comment: "Well, you're in deep doo doo if that happens."

Television and film

Kaku has appeared in many forms of media and on many programs and networks, including ''Good Morning America'', ''The Screen Savers'', ''Larry King Live'', ''60 Minutes'', ''Nightline'', ''20/20'', ''Naked Science'', CNN, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Al Jazeera English, Fox News Channel, The History Channel, ''Conan'', The Science Channel, The Discovery Channel, TLC, ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'', ''The Colbert Report'', ''The Art Bell Show'' and its successor, ''Coast To Coast AM'', ''BBC World News America'', ''The Opie & Anthony Show'', ''The Covino & Rich Show'', ''Head Rush'', ''The Late Show with David Letterman'', and ''Real Time with Bill Maher.

We Are the Guinea Pigs (1980)

Borders (1989)

''Synthetic Pleasures'' (1995)

Einstein Revealed (1996)

''Future Fantastic'' (1996)

''Stephen Hawking's Universe'' (1997)

Bioperfection: Building a New Human Race (1998)

Exodus Earth (1999)

Me & Isaac Newton (1999)

Space: The Final Junkyard (1999)

''Big Questions'' (2001)

''Parallel Universes'' (2001)

''Horizon'': "Time travel" (2003)

Robo sapiens (2003)

Brilliant Minds: Secret Of The Cosmos (2003)

''Nova'': "The Elegant Universe" (2003)

''Hawking'' (2004)

''The Screen Savers'' (2004)

''Unscrewed with Martin Sargent'' (2004)

''Alien Planet (2005)

''ABC News'' "UFOs: Seeing Is Believing" (2005)

''HARDtalk Extra'' (2005)

''Last Days on Earth'' (2005)

Obsessed & Scientific (2005)

''Horizon'': "Einstein's Unfinished Symphony" (2005)

Prophets of Science Fiction (2006)

''Time'' (2006)

''2057'' (2007)

''The Universe'' (2007)

Futurecar (2007)

''Attack of the Show!'' (2007)

''Visions of the Future'' (2008)

''Horizon'': "The President's Guide to Science" (2008)

Stephen Hawking: Master of the Universe (2008)

''Horizon'': "Who's Afraid of a Big Black Hole" (2009–2010)

''Sci Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible'' (2009–2010)

''Horizon'': "What Happened Before the Big Bang?" (2010)

''GameTrailers TV With Geoff Keighley'': "The Science of Games" (2010)

''How the Universe Works'' (2010)

''Through the Wormhole'' (2011)

In 1999, Kaku was one of the scientists profiled in the feature-length film ''Me and Isaac Newton'', directed by Michael Apted. It played theatrically in the United States, was later broadcast on national TV, and won several film awards.

In 2005, Kaku appeared in the short documentary ''Obsessed & Scientific.'' The film is about the possibility of time travel and the people who dream about it. It screened at the Montreal World Film Festival and a feature film expansion is in development talks. Kaku also appeared in the ABC documentary ''UFOs: Seeing Is Believing'', in which he suggested that while he believes it is extremely unlikely that extraterrestrials have ever actually visited Earth, we must keep our minds open to the possible existence of civilizations a million years ahead of us in technology, where entirely new avenues of physics open up. He also discussed the future of interstellar exploration and alien life in the Discovery Channel special ''Alien Planet'' as one of the multiple speakers who co-hosted the show, and Einstein's Theory of Relativity on The History Channel.

In February 2006, Kaku appeared as presenter in the BBC-TV four-part documentary ''Time'' which seeks to explore the mysterious nature of time. Part one of the series concerns personal time, and how we perceive and measure the passing of time. The second in the series deal with cheating time, exploring possibilities of extending the lifespan of organisms. The geological time covered in part three explores the ages of the earth and the sun. Part four covers the topics of cosmological time, the beginning of time and the events that occurred at the instant of the big bang.

On January 28, 2007, Kaku hosted the Discovery Channel series ''2057.'' This three-hour program discussed how medicine, the city, and energy could change over the next 50 years.

In 2008, Kaku hosted the three-hour BBC-TV documentary ''Visions of the Future'', on the future of computers, medicine, and quantum physics, and he appeared in several episodes of the History Channel's ''Universe'' series.

On December 1, 2009, he began hosting a 12-episode weekly TV series for the Science Channel at 10 pm, called ''Sci Fi Science: Physics of the Impossible'', based on his best-selling book. Each 30-minute episode discusses the scientific basis behind imaginative schemes, such as time travel, parallel universes, warp drive, star ships, light sabers, force fields, teleportation, invisibility, death stars, and even superpowers and flying saucers. Each episode includes interviews with the world's top scientists working on prototypes of these technologies, interviews with sci-fi fans, clips from science fiction movies, and special effects and computer graphics. Although these inventions are impossible today, the series discusses when these technologies might become feasible in the future.

In 2010, he began to appear in a series on the website Gametrailers.com called ''Science of Games'', discussing the scientific aspects of various popular video games such as ''Mass Effect 2'' and ''Star Wars: The Force Unleashed''.

Kaku is popular in mainstream media because of his knowledge and his accessible approach to presenting complex subjects in science. While his technical writings are confined to theoretical physics, his public speaking and media appearances cover a broad range of topics, from the Kardashev scale to more esoteric subjects such as wormholes and time travel. In January 2007, Kaku visited Oman. While there, he talked at length to select members of that country's decision makers. In an interview with local media, Dr Kaku elaborated on his vision of mankind's future. Kaku considers climate change and terrorism as serious threats in man's evolution from a Type 0 civilization to Type 1.

On October 11, 2010, Michio Kaku appeared in the BBC program "What Happened Before the Big Bang" (along with Laura Mersini-Houghton, Andrei Linde, Roger Penrose, Lee Smolin, Neil Turok, and other notable cosmologists and physicists), where he propounded his theory of the universe created out of nothing.

Social policy advocacy

Kaku has publicly stated his concerns over matters including the anthropogenic cause of global warming, nuclear armament, nuclear power and the general misuse of science. He was critical of the Cassini–Huygens space probe because of the of plutonium contained in the craft for use by its radioisotope thermoelectric generator. Conscious of the possibility of casualties if the probe's fuel were dispersed into the environment during a malfunction and crash as the probe was making a 'sling-shot' maneuver around earth, Kaku publicly criticized NASA's risk assessment. He has also spoken on the dangers of space junk and called for more and better monitoring. Kaku is generally a vigorous supporter of the exploration of outer space, believing that the ultimate destiny of the human race may lie in extrasolar planets; but he is critical of some of the cost-ineffective missions and methods of NASA.

Kaku credits his anti-nuclear war position to programs he heard on the Pacifica Radio network, during his student years in California. It was during this period that he made the decision to turn away from a career developing the next generation of nuclear weapons in association with Edward Teller and focused on research, teaching, writing and media. Kaku joined with others such as Helen Caldicott, Jonathan Schell, Peace Action and was instrumental in building a global anti-nuclear weapons movement that arose in the 1980s, during the administration of U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Kaku was a board member of Peace Action and on the board of radio station WBAI-FM in New York City where he originated his long running program, ''Explorations,'' that focused on the issues of science, war, peace and the environment.

His remark from an interview in support of SETI, "We could be in the middle of an intergalactic conversation...and we wouldn't even ''know''.", is used in the third Symphony of Science installment "Our Place in the Cosmos".

Personal life

Kaku is married to Shizue Kaku and has one daughter.

Bibliography

References

External links

Getting Physical: Dr. Michio Kaku Explains Einstein's Genius

Russia Takes Aim at Asteroids, op-ed on asteroid defense, Wall St. Journal, Jan. 5, 2010

''The Skeptics' Guide To The Universe'' interview

Michio Kaku on National Public Radio

Category:City College of New York faculty Category:American physicists Category:American radio personalities Category:City University of New York faculty Category:Princeton University faculty Category:Futurologists Category:Harvard University alumni Category:American academics of Japanese descent Category:American people of Japanese descent Category:Japanese-American civil rights activists Category:Pacifica Radio Category:String theorists Category:Theoretical physicists Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni Category:People from San Jose, California Category:1947 births Category:Living people

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name	Carl Lewis
fullname	Frederick Carlton Lewis
nicknames	Carl Lewis
nationality
sport	Running
event	100 metres, 200 metres
birth date	July 01, 1961
birth place	Birmingham, Alabama
residence	Medford, New Jersey
retired	1997
height
weight
country
medaltemplates	}}

}} Frederick Carlton "Carl" Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is a former American track and field athlete who won 10 Olympic medals including 9 gold, and 10 World Championships medals, of which 8 were gold. His career spanned from 1979 when he first achieved a world ranking to 1996 when he last won an Olympic title and subsequently retired. Lewis became an actor and has appeared in a number of films. In 2011 Lewis announced a run as a Democratic candidate for a seat in the New Jersey Senate, but was disqualified by state officials who said he failed to meet the state's residency requirement. A federal appeals court in Philadelphia allowed him to keep his name on primary election ballots and Lewis won the New Jersey primary uncontested on June 7, 2011. However the court has not issued a final ruling on whether Lewis' name may appear on ballots in November's general election.

Lewis was a dominant sprinter and long jumper who topped the world rankings in the 100 m, 200 m and long jump events frequently from 1981 to the early 1990s, was named Athlete of the Year by ''Track and Field News'' in 1982, 1983 and 1984, and set world records in the 100 m, 4 x 100 m and 4 x 200 m relays. His world record in the indoor long jump has stood since 1984 and his 65 consecutive victories in the long jump achieved over a span of 10 years is one of the sport’s longest undefeated streaks.

His lifetime accomplishments have led to numerous accolades, including being voted "Sportsman of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee and being named "Olympian of the Century" by the American sports magazine ''Sports Illustrated''. He also helped transform track and field from its nominal amateur status to its current professional status, thus enabling athletes to have more lucrative and longer-lasting careers.

Athletic career

Emergence as a competitive athlete

Frederick Carlton Lewis was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on July 1, 1961, the son of William and Evelyn Lewis. The couple ran a local athletics club and this proved a crucial influence on both Carl and his sister, Carol. At age 13, Lewis started to compete in the long jump, and while attending Willingboro High School, he emerged as a promising athlete. As a junior, he was one of the top long jumpers in New Jersey, and by his senior year he was one of the top long jumpers in the world. Lewis was initially coached by his father, who coached other local athletes to elite status, including Tom Farrell, a local runner and eventual junior Olympic medalist and sub-4 minute miler. Many colleges tried to recruit Lewis, and he chose to enroll at the University of Houston where Tom Tellez was coach. Tellez would thereafter remain Lewis’ coach for his entire career. Days after graduating from high school in 1979, Lewis broke the high school long jump record with a leap of 8.13 m (26 ft 8 in).

Lewis immediately decided to make a living off his athletic abilities, even though track and field was nominally an amateur sport. Upon meeting Tellez for the first time after arriving at the University of Houston in the fall of 1979, Lewis said, “I want to be a millionaire and I don’t ever want a real job.” At year’s end, Lewis achieved his first world ranking as tabulated by ''Track and Field News'', an American publication and self-described “Bible of the Sport.” He was 5th in the world in the long jump. (All subsequent ranking references are according to ''Track and Field News''.)

Lewis qualified for the American team for the 1980 Olympics in the long jump and as a member of the 4 x 100 m relay team. Though his focus was on the long jump, he was now starting to emerge as a sprint talent. The Olympic boycott meant that Lewis did not compete in Moscow. However, he did compete at the Liberty Bell Classic in July 1980, an alternate meet for boycotting nations. He jumped 7.77 m there for a Bronze medal, and the American 4 x 100 m relay team won Gold with a time of 38.61 sec. At year’s end, Lewis was ranked 6th in the world in the long jump and 7th in the 100 m.

Breakthrough in 1981 and 1982

In 1981, Lewis started to emerge as a dominant sprinter and long jumper.

At the start of 1981, Lewis’ best legal long jump was his high school record from 1979. On June 20, Lewis improved his personal best by almost half a meter by leaping 8.62 m (28 ft 3 in) at the TAC Championships while still a teenager. The jump made Lewis the number two long jumper in history, behind only Bob Beamon, and holder of the low-altitude record.

While marks set at the thinner air of high altitude are eligible for world records, some purists feel that there is some “taint” to the assistance that altitude gives to athletes in sprinting and jumping events. Lewis was determined to set his records at sea level venues to avoid this “taint.” In response to a question about him skipping a 1982 long jump competition at altitude, he said, “I want the record and I plan to get it, but not at altitude. I don’t want that ‘(A)’ [for altitude] after the mark.” When he gained prominence in the early 1980s, all the extant men’s sprint records and the long jump record had been set at the high altitude of Mexico City.

Also in 1981, Lewis became the fastest 100 m sprinter in the world. His relatively modest best from 1979 (10.67 s) improved to a world-class 10.21 the next year. But 1981 saw him run 10.00 s at the Southwest Conference Championships in Dallas on May 16, a time that was the third-fastest in history and stood as the low-altitude record. For the first time, Lewis was ranked number one in the world, in both the 100 m and the long jump. He won his first of six National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles for the University of Houston and won his first national titles in the 100 m and long jump. Additionally, he won the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the United States. His loss to Larry Myricks at the TAC Indoor Championships in February would stand as his last loss in the long jump for more than a decade.

Since it was rare for an athlete to compete in and dominate both a track and a field event, comparisons were made to Jesse Owens, who dominated sprint and long jump events in the 1930s.

In 1982, Lewis continued his dominance, and for the first time, it seemed someone might challenge Bob Beamon’s world record of 8.90 m in the long jump set at the 1968 Olympics, a mark often described as one of the greatest athletic achievements ever. Before Lewis, 28 feet [8.53 m] had been exceeded on two occasions by two people: Beamon and 1980 Olympic champion Lutz Dombrowski. During 1982, Lewis cleared 8.53 m five times outdoors, twice more indoors, going as far as 8.76 m (28 ft 9 in) at Indianapolis on July 24. He also ran 10.00 s in the 100 m, the world’s fastest time, matching his low-altitude record from 1981. [ibid, p. 20] He achieved his 10.00 s clocking the same weekend he leapt 8.61 m twice, and the day he recorded his new low-altitude record 8.76 m at Indianapolis, he had three fouls with his toe barely over the board, two of which seemed to exceed Beamon’s record, the third which several observers said reached 30 ft (about 9.15 m). Some say Lewis should have been credited with setting a world record with that jump, claiming the track officials misinterpreted the rules on fouls.

He repeated his number one ranking in the 100 m and long jump, and ranked number six in the 200 m. Additionally, he was named Athlete of the Year by ''Track and Field News''. From 1981 until 1992, Lewis topped the 100 m ranking six times (seven if Ben Johnson's 1987 top ranking is ignored), and ranked no lower than third. His dominance in the long jump was even greater, as he topped the rankings nine times during the same period, and ranked second in the other years.

1983 and the inaugural World Championships

For the first time, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the governing body of track and field, organized a World Championships, an event which would prove to be one of the biggest sporting events of the year worldwide. The championships boasted a then record number of participating countries for a sporting event (154), more than even the Olympics which had been plagued by politically motivated boycotts in its two previous celebrations and which would suffer another one in 1984.

At the World Championships, Lewis’ chief rival in the long jump was predicted to be the man who last beat him: Larry Myricks. But though Myricks had joined Lewis in surpassing 28 feet [8.53 m] the year before, he failed to qualify for the American team, and Lewis won at Helsinki with relative ease. His winning leap of 8.55 m defeated silver medalist Jason Grimes by 26 cm.

He also won the 100 m with relative ease. There, Calvin Smith who had earlier that year set a new world record in the 100 m at altitude with a 9.93 s performance, was soundly beaten by Lewis 10.07 s to 10.21 s. Smith won the 200 m title, an event which Lewis had not entered, but even there he was partly in Lewis’ shadow as Lewis had set an American record in that event earlier that year. He won the 200 m June 19 at the TAC/Mobil Championships in 19.75 s, the second-fastest time in history and the low-altitude record, only 0.03 s behind Pietro Mennea’s 1979 mark. Observers here noted that Lewis probably could have broken the world record if he didn't ease off in the final metres to raise his arms in celebration. Finally, Lewis ran the anchor in the 4 x 100 m relay, winning in 37.86 s, a new world record and the first in Lewis’ career.

Lewis’ year-best performances in the 100 m and long jump were not at the World Championships, but at other meets. He became the first person to run a sub-10 second 100 m at low-altitude with a 9.97 s clocking at Modesto May 14. His gold at the World Championships and his other fast times earned him the number one ranking in the world that year, despite Calvin Smith's world record. At the TAC Championships on June 19, he set a new low-altitude record in the long jump, 8.79 m, in that event. He was ranked number two in the 200 m despite his low-altitude record of 19.75 s, as Smith had won gold at Helsinki and titles won usually outweigh marks set for the rankers at ''Track and Field News''. Lewis was again named Athlete of the Year by the magazine.

1984 Olympics and the quest to equal Jesse Owens

Lewis was one of the biggest sporting celebrities in the world by the start of 1984, but owing to track and field’s relatively low profile in America, Lewis was not nearly as well known there. The 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles would make Lewis a household name in America.

Lewis and agent Joe Douglas, founder and manager of the Santa Monica Track Club of which Lewis was a member, frequently discussed his wish to match Jesse Owens' feat of winning four gold medals at a single Olympic Games and to “cash in” afterward with the lucrative endorsement deals which surely would follow. As it turned out, his first goal would prove to be far easier accomplished than his latter goal, at least in America.

Lewis started his quest to match Owens with a convincing win in the 100 m, running 9.99 s to handily defeat his nearest competitor, fellow American Sam Graddy, by .20 s. In his next event, the long jump, Lewis won with relative ease. But his approach to winning this event stoked controversy, even as knowledgeable observers agreed his approach was the correct one. Since Lewis still had heats and finals in the 200 m and the 4 x 100 m relay to compete in, he chose to take as few jumps as necessary to win the event. He risked injury in the cool conditions of the day if he over-extended himself, and his ultimate goal to win four golds might be at risk. His first jump at 8.54 m was, he knew, sufficient to win the event. He took one more jump, a foul, then passed his remaining four allotted jumps. He handily won gold, as silver medalist Gary Honey of Australia's best jump was 8.24 m. But the public was generally unaware of the intricacies of the sport and had been repeatedly told by the media of Lewis’ quest to surpass Bob Beamon’s legendary long jump record of 8.90 m. Lewis himself had often stated it was a goal of his to surpass the mark. A television ad with Beamon appeared before the final, featuring the record-holder saying, “I hope you make it, kid.” So, when Lewis decided not to make any more attempts to try to break the record, he was roundly booed. When asked about those boos, Lewis said, "I was shocked at first. But after I thought about it, I realized that they were booing because they wanted to see more of Carl Lewis. I guess that's flattering."

His third gold medal came in the 200 m, where he again won handily in a time of 19.80 s, a new Olympic record. And finally, he won his fourth gold when the 4 x 100 m relay team he anchored finished in a time of 37.83 s, a new world record eclipsing the record he helped set the year before at the World Championships.

Lack of endorsements and public perception

Lewis had achieved what he had set out to do. He had matched Jesse Owens’ legendary feat of winning four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics, and he had done so with relative ease. However, Lewis had also expected to win lucrative endorsement deals, but few if any were forthcoming in America. The long jump controversy was one reason. And, Lewis’ self-congratulatory conduct did not impress several other track stars. "He rubs it in too much," said Edwin Moses, twice Olympic gold medalist in the 400 m hurdles. "A little humility is in order. That's what Carl lacks." Further, Lewis’ agent Joe Douglas compared him to pop star Michael Jackson, a comparison which did not go over well. Douglas said he was inaccurately quoted, but the impression that Lewis was aloof and egotistical was firmly planted in the public’s perception by the end of the 1984 Olympic Games.

Additionally, rumours that Lewis was a homosexual circulated, and though Lewis denied the rumours, they probably hurt his marketability as well. Lewis’ look at the Games, with a flat-top haircut and flamboyant clothing, added fuel to the reports. "It doesn't matter what Carl Lewis's sexuality is," high jumper Dwight Stones said. "Madison Avenue perceives him as homosexual." Coke had offered a lucrative deal to Lewis before the Olympics, an offer Lewis and Douglas turned down, confident he’d be worth more after the Olympics. But Coke rescinded the offer after the Games. Nike had Lewis under contract for several years already, despite questions about how it affected his amateur status, and he was appearing on Nike television ads, in print and on billboards. After the Games and faced with Lewis’ new negative image, Nike dropped him. "If you're a male athlete, I think the American public wants you to look macho," said Don Coleman, a Nike representative. "They started looking for ways to get rid of me," Lewis said. "Everyone there was so scared and so cynical they didn't know what to do." Lewis himself would lay the blame on some inaccurate reporting, especially the “Carl bashing,” as he put it, typified by a ''Sports Illustrated'' article before the Olympics.

At year’s end, Lewis was again awarded the top rankings in the 100 m and the long jump and was additionally ranked number one in the 200 m. And for the third year in a row, he was awarded the Athlete of the Year title by ''Track and Field News''.

Lewis was drafted in the 10th round of the 1984 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls (the draft where the Bulls selected Michael Jordan with the number 3 pick). He never played a game in the NBA. He was also drafted in the 12th round of the 1984 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys as a wide receiver. He was never signed.

Ben Johnson emerges as a challenger

After the Los Angeles Olympics, Lewis continued to dominate track and field, especially in the long jump, an event he would not lose at for seven more years, but others started to challenge his dominance in the 100 m sprint. His low-altitude record had been surpassed by fellow American Mel Lattany with a time of 9.96 s shortly before the 1984 Olympics, but his biggest challenger would prove to be Canadian Ben Johnson, the bronze medalist behind Lewis at the 1984 Olympics. Johnson would beat Lewis once in 1985, but Lewis also lost to others, while winning most of his races. Lewis retained his number one rank that year, Johnson would place second. In 1986, Johnson defeated Lewis convincingly at the Goodwill Games in Moscow, clocking a new low-altitude record of 9.95 s. At year’s end, Johnson was ranked number one, while Lewis slipped to number three having lost more races than he won. He even seemed vulnerable in the long jump, an event he didn’t lose in 1986, or the year before, though he competed sparingly. Lewis ended up ranked second behind Soviet Robert Emmiyan, who had the longest legal jump of the year at 8.61 m.

1987 World Championships

The 1987 World Championships in Athletics in Rome saw Lewis regain the form he had in 1984, though he lost the biggest race of the year to Johnson.

To focus on his strongest event, the long jump, Lewis skipped the 200 m and made sure to take all his attempts. This was not to answer critics from the 1984 long jump controversy; this was because history’s second 29 ft long-jumper was in the field. Robert Emmiyan had leaped 8.86 m (29 ft 1 in) at altitude in May, just 4 cm short of Bob Beamon’s record. But Emmiyan's best was an 8.53 m leap that day, second to Lewis's 8.67 m. Lewis cleared 8.60 m four times. In the 4 x 100 m relay, Lewis anchored the gold-medal team to time of 37.90 s, the third-fastest of all time.

The event which was most talked about and which caused the most drama was the 100 m final. Johnson had run under 10.00 s three times that year before Rome, while Lewis had not managed to get under the 10.00 s barrier at all. But Lewis looked strong in the heats of the 100 m, setting a Championship record in the semi-final while running into a wind with a 10.03 s effort. In the final, however, Johnson won with a time which stunned observers: 9.83 s, a new world record. Lewis, second with 9.93 s, had tied the existing world record, but that was insufficient.

While Johnson basked in the glory of his achievement, Lewis started to explain away his defeat. He first claimed that Johnson had false-started, then he alluded to a stomach virus which had weakened him, and finally, without naming names, said “There are a lot of people coming out of nowhere. I don’t think they are doing it without drugs.” He added, “I could run 9.8 or faster in the 100 if I could jump into drugs right away.” This was the start of Lewis’ calling on the sport of track and field to be cleaned up in terms of the illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs. Cynics noted that the problem had been in the sport for many years, and it only become a cause for Lewis once he was actually defeated. In response to the accusations, Johnson replied "When Carl Lewis was winning everything, I never said a word against him. And when the next guy comes along and beats me, I won’t complain about that either".

The 1988 Olympics

Lewis not only lost the most publicized showdown in track and field in 1987, he also lost his father. When William McKinley Lewis Jr. died, Lewis placed the gold medal he won for the 100 m in 1984 in his hand to be buried with him. "Don't worry,” he told his mother. “I'll get another one.” Lewis repeatedly referred to his father as a motivating factor for the 1988 season. “A lot happened to me last year, especially the death of my father. That caused me to re-educate myself to being the very best I possibly can be this season,” he said, after defeating Johnson in Zürich August 17.

The defeat of Johnson shortly before the Olympics was part of a year-long grudge match between the two athletes. The Johnson camp had angrily defended their star against Lewis's (ultimately correct) drug accusations, but they also scrambled to prepare Johnson after he suffered a hamstring injury during the indoor season. When Lewis defeated Johnson in their first meeting since Rome’s World Championships, the drama for the Olympics only heightened. Lewis had run 9.93 s, the same time he ran when finishing second to Johnson the previous year. Johnson ran 10.00 s, indicating he was recovering from his injury, but not answering the question whether he’d be ready for the Olympic final a bit more than a month away.

The 100 m final at the 1988 Olympics was one of the most-hyped sports stories of the year; its dramatic outcome would rank as one of the most infamous sports stories of the century. Johnson won in 9.79 s, a new world record, while Lewis set a new American record with 9.92 s. Three days later, Johnson tested positive for steroids, his medal was taken away and Lewis was awarded gold and credited with a new Olympic record.

In the long jump, Robert Emmiyan withdrew from the competition citing an injury, and Lewis’ main challengers were rising American long jump star Mike Powell and long-time rival Larry Myricks. Lewis leapt 8.72 m, a low-altitude Olympic best, and none of his competitors could match it. The Americans swept the medals in the event for the first time in 84 years. [ibid, p. 41] In the 200 m, Lewis dipped under his Olympic record from 1984, running 19.79 s, but did so in second place to Joe DeLoach, who claimed the new record and Olympic gold in 19.75 s. [ibid, p. 13] In the final event he entered, the 4 x 100 m relay, Lewis never made it to the track as the Americans fumbled an exchange in a heat and were disqualified. [ibid, p. 32]

A subsequent honour would follow: Lewis eventually was credited with the 100 m world record for the 9.92 s he ran in Seoul. Though Ben Johnson's 9.79 s time was never ratified as a world record, the 9.83 s he ran the year before was. However, in the fallout to the steroid scandal, an inquiry was called in Canada wherein Johnson admitted under oath to long-time steroid use. The IAAF subsequently stripped Johnson of his record and gold medal from the World Championships. Lewis was deemed to be the world record holder for his 1988 Olympic performance, and declared the 1987 100 m World Champion. The IAAF also declared that Lewis had also, therefore, twice tied the "true" world record (9.93 s) for his 1987 World Championship performance, and again at the 1988 Zürich meet where he defeated Johnson. However, those times were never ratified as records. From January 1, 1990, Lewis was the world record holder in the 100 m. The record did not last long, as fellow American and University of Houston teammate Leroy Burrell ran 9.90 s on June 14, 1991 to break Lewis's mark. Lewis also lost his ranking as number one sprinter in 1989 and 1990 though still remaining undefeated in the long jump.

The 1991 World Championships: Lewis’ greatest performances

Tokyo was the venue for the 1991 World Championships. In the 100 m final, Lewis faced the two men who ranked number one in the world the past two years: Burrell and Jamaican Raymond Stewart. In what would be the deepest 100 metres race ever to that time, with six men finishing in under ten seconds, Lewis not only defeated his opponents, he reclaimed the world record with a clocking of 9.86 s. Though previously a world-record holder in this event, this was the first time he had crossed the line with “WR” beside his name on the giant television screens, and the first time he could savour his achievement at the moment it occurred. He could be seen with tears in his eyes afterwards. "The best race of my life," Lewis said. "The best technique, the fastest. And I did it at thirty." Lewis's world record would stand for nearly three years. Lewis additionally anchored the 4 x100 m relay team to another world record, 37.50 s, the third time that year he had anchored a 4 x 100 m squad to a world record.

Long jump showdown versus Powell

The 1991 World Championships are perhaps best remembered for the long jump final, considered by some to have been one of greatest competitions ever in any sport.

Lewis was up against his main rival of the last few years, Mike Powell, the silver medalist in the event from the 1988 Olympics and the top-ranked long jumper of 1990. Lewis had at that point not lost a long jump competition in a decade, winning 65 consecutive meets. Powell had been unable to defeat Lewis, despite sometimes putting in jumps near world-record territory, only to see them ruled fouls. Or, as with other competitors such as Larry Myricks, putting in leaps which Lewis himself had only rarely surpassed, only to see Lewis surpass them on his next or final attempt. Lewis's first jump was 8.68 m (28 feet, 5 ¾ inches), a World Championship record, and a mark bested by only three others beside Lewis all-time. Powell, jumping first, had faltered in the first round, but jumped 8.54 m to claim second place in the second round. Myricks was also in the competition, but he didn’t challenge the leaders.

Lewis jumped 8.83 m (28–11½), a wind-aided leap, in the third round, a mark which would have won every long jump competition in history save two. Powell responded with a long foul, estimated to be around 8.80 m. Lewis's next jump made history: The first leap ever beyond Bob Beamon's record. The wind gauge indicated that it was a wind-aided jump, so it could not be considered a record, but it would still count in the competition. 8.91 m (29–2¾) was the greatest leap ever under any condition. Now, only a world record could defeat Lewis.

In the next round, Powell responded. His jump was measured as 8.95 m (29–4½); this time, his jump was not a foul, and with a wind gauge measurement of 0.3 m/s, well within the legal allowable for a record. Powell had not only jumped 4 cm further than Lewis, he had eclipsed the 23-year-old mark set by Bob Beamon and done so at low altitude.

Lewis still had two jumps left, though he was now no longer chasing Beamon, but Powell. He leaped 8.87 m (29–1¼), which was a new personal best under legal wind conditions, then a final jump of 8.84 m (29–0). He thus lost his first long jump competition in a decade. Powell's 8.95 m and Lewis's final two jumps still stand as of August 2010 as the top three low altitude jumps ever. The farthest anyone has jumped since under legal conditions is 8.74 m.

Lewis’ reaction to what was one of the greatest competitions ever in the sport was to offer only grudging acknowledgment of the achievement of Powell. "He just did it," Lewis said of Powell's winning jump. "It was that close, and it was the best of his life, and he may never do it again." Powell did jump as far or farther on two subsequent occasions, though both were wind-aided jumps at altitude: 8.99 m in 1992 and 8.95 m in 1994. Lewis's best subsequent results were two wind-aided leaps at 8.72 m, and a 8.68 m under legal conditions while in the qualifying rounds at the Barcelona Olympics.

In reference to his efforts at the 1991 World Championships, Lewis said, “This has been the greatest meet that I’ve ever had.” ''Track and Field News'' was prepared to go even further than that, suggesting that after these Championships, “It had become hard to argue that he is not the greatest athlete ever to set foot on track or field.”

Lewis credits his outstanding 1991 results in part to the vegan diet he adopted in 1990.

Lewis's 1991 outstanding results earned him the ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year, an award he shared with gymnastics star Kim Zmeskal.

The 1992 Olympics and 1993 World Championships

After the heights reached in 1991, Lewis started to lose his dominance in both the sprints and the long jump. Though he anchored a world record 1:19.11 in the rarely run 4 x 200 m relay with the Santa Monica Track Club early in 1992, he failed to qualify for the Olympic team in the 100 m or 200 m. In the latter race, he finished fourth at the Olympic trials behind rising star Michael Johnson who set a personal best of 19.79 s. It was the first time the two had ever met on the track. Lewis did, however, qualify for the long jump, finishing second behind Powell, and was eligible for the 4 x 100 m relay team.

At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Lewis jumped 8.67 m in the first round of the long jump, beating Powell who did a final-round 8.64 m. In the 4 x 100 m relay, Lewis anchored another world record, in 37.40 s, a time which stood for 16 years. He covered the final leg in 8.85 seconds, the fastest officially recorded anchor leg ever until surpassed by Asafa Powell in 2007 with 8.84.

Lewis competed at the 4th World Championships in Stuttgart in 1993, but finished fourth in the 100 m, and did not compete in the long jump. He did, however, earn his first World Championship medal in the 200 m, a bronze with his 19.99 s performance. That medal would prove to be his final Olympic or World Championship medal in a running event. Injuries kept Lewis largely sidelined for next few years, then he made a comeback for the 1996 season.

The 1996 Olympics

Lewis qualified for the American Olympic team for the fifth time in the long jump, the only time an American man has done so. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, injuries to world-record holder Mike Powell and the leading long-jumper in the world, Iván Pedroso, affected their performances. Lewis, on the other hand, was in good form. Though he did not match past performances, his third-round leap of 8.50 m won gold by 21 cm over second-place James Beckford of Jamaica. He became one of only three Olympians to win the same individual event four times, joining Danish sailor Paul Bert Elvstrøm and discus thrower Al Oerter of the United States. Additionally, Lewis’ ninth gold medal tied him for first on the list of Olympic gold medalists with Paavo Nurmi, Larisa Latynina and Mark Spitz. American swimmer Michael Phelps has since surpassed Lewis' shared record.

Lewis' 8.50 meter jump was also officially declared a masters record for the 35–39 age group.

Controversy struck when as ''Track and Field News'' put it, “Lewis’ pissy attitude in the whole relay hoo-hah a few days later served only to take the luster off his final gold.” After Lewis’ unexpected long jump gold, it was noted that he could become the athlete with the most Olympic gold medals if he entered the 4 x 100 m relay team. Any member of the American Olympic men’s track and field team could be used, even if they had not qualified for the relay event. Lewis said, “If they asked me, I’d run it in a second. But they haven’t asked me to run it.” He further suggested on ''Larry King Live'' that viewers phone the United States Olympic Committee to weigh in on the situation. Lewis had skipped the mandatory relay training camp and demanded to run the anchor leg, which added to the debate. The final decision was to not add Lewis to the team. Olympic team coach Erv Hunt said, “The basis of their [the relay team’s] opinion was ‘We want to run, we worked our butts off and we deserve to be here.’” [ibid, p. 31] The American relay team finished second behind Canada, the first time an American 4 x 100 m men’s relay team had been defeated in an Olympic final. The Canadian team was anchored by Donovan Bailey, who days earlier set a world record in the 100 m, and the Canadians ran the fastest time ever recorded in America.

Lewis retired from track and field in 1997.

In 1999, Lewis was voted "Sportsman of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee, elected "World Athlete of the Century" by the International Association of Athletics Federations and named "Olympian of the Century" by ''Sports Illustrated''. In 2000 his alma mater University of Houston named the Carl Lewis International Complex after him.

Stimulant use

In 2003, Dr. Wade Exum, the United States Olympic Committee's director of drug control administration from 1991 to 2000, gave copies of documents to ''Sports Illustrated'' which revealed that some 100 American athletes who failed drug tests and should have been prevented from competing in the Olympics were nevertheless cleared to compete. Among those athletes was Lewis.

It was revealed that Lewis tested positive three times before the 1988 Olympics for pseudoephedrine, ephedrine, and phenylpropanolamine, banned stimulants and bronchodilators also found in cold medication, and had been banned from the Seoul Olympics and from competition for six months. The USOC accepted his claim of inadvertent use and overturned the decision. Fellow Santa Monica Track Club teammates Joe DeLoach and Floyd Heard were also found to have the same banned stimulants in their systems, and were cleared to compete for the same reason.

The positive results occurred at the Olympic Trials in July 1988 where athletes were required to declare on the drug-testing forms "over-the-counter medication, prescription drugs and any other substances you have taken by mouth, injection or by suppository."

"Carl did nothing wrong. There was never intent. He was never told, you violated the rules," said Martin D. Singer, Lewis's lawyer, who also said that Lewis had inadvertently taken the banned stimulants in an over-the-counter herbal remedy. "The only thing I can say is I think it's unfortunate what Wade Exum is trying to do," said Lewis. "I don't know what people are trying to make out of nothing because everyone was treated the same, so what are we talking about? I don't get it." The International Olympic Committee's medical commission chairman, Arne Ljungqvist, said the Exum documents "fit a pattern" of failure to report on positive drug cases.

Achievements

Lewis is the only man to defend an Olympic 100 meter or long jump title successfully.

The Chicago Bulls drafted Lewis in the 1984 NBA Draft as the 208th overall pick, although he had played neither high school nor college basketball. Lewis never played in the NBA. A poll on the NBA's website ranked Lewis second to Lusia Harris, the only woman to be drafted by the NBA, as the most unusual pick in the history of the NBA Draft.

Though he did not play football in college, Lewis was drafted as a wide receiver in the 12th round of the 1984 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He never played in the NFL.

Personal best marks

100 m: 9.86 s (1991)

200 m: 19.75 s (1983)

Long jump: 8.87 m (29 ft 1¼ in) 1991, w 8.91 m (29 ft 2¾ in) 1991

4x100 m relay: 37.40 s (United States – Marsh; Burrell; Mitchell; Lewis – 1992)

4x200 m relay: 1:18.68 min (Santa Monica Track Club – Marsh; Burrell; Heard; Lewis – 1994; current world record)

Career outside athletics

Film and television

Lewis has appeared in numerous films and television productions. Among them, he played himself in cameos in ''Perfect Strangers'' and ''Speed Zone!'', and was also seen in ''Material Girls''.

Lewis also made an appearance on ''The Weakest Link''.

In 2011 Lewis appeared short documentary ''Challenging Impossibility'' which features the feats of strength demonstrated by the late spiritual teacher and peace advocate Sri Chinmoy.

Bid for New Jersey State Senate

On April 11, 2011, Lewis filed petitions to run as a Democrat for New Jersey State Senate in the state's 8th legislative district in Burlington County. He was disqualified by Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno, a Republican, who decided he did not meet the state's requirement that Senate candidates live in New Jersey for four years. He appealed her decision in U.S. District Court, which ruled that Lewis could keep his name on ballots, pending its review of the constitutionality of New Jersey's residency requirements for State Senate. Lewis went on to win the uncontested primary on June 7, 2011.

The court has agreed to issue a ruling by Sept. 8, the day New Jersey's county clerks finalize election ballots.

Personal life

Lewis’ mother Evelyn was an Olympian who competed at the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki in the 80 m hurdles. Carl's sister Carol Lewis was also an Olympian, finishing 9th in the long jump at the 1984 Olympics, and earning a bronze medal in the same event at the 1983 World Championships. She additionally set two American records in the long jump in 1985. She has been a television broadcast announcer for a number of years.

Lewis is vegan. He reached the top of his career aged thirty on a vegan diet which he has claimed is better suited to him because he can eat a larger quantity without affecting his athleticism and he believes that switching to a vegan diet can lead to improved athletic performance .

In 2007, Lewis became an official supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities and is a member of their celebrity board, called the Friends of RMHC.

On October 16, 2009, Lewis was nominated a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Since 1993, Lewis has suffered from degenerative arthritis.

2008 Formula One driver's champion Lewis Carl Hamilton, born a few months after Carl Lewis's success in 1984 Olympics, was named after him.

In pop culture

In the N.W.A. song "100 Miles and Runnin'", rapper Eazy-E mentions Lewis.

Lewis is mentioned in the rap song "Nobody Beats the Biz" by the rap artist Biz Markie.

See also

List of multiple Olympic gold medalists

List of multiple Olympic gold medalists at a single Games

List of multiple Olympic gold medalists in one event

Carl Lewis International Complex

References

External links

New Jersey State Senate Campaign website

Official website

Olympiad Results for Carl Lewis

Music video for 'Break It Up'

''Guardian'' story about Lewis and alleged USOC doping cover-up

Carl Lewis on Being Vegan

Lutz Dombrowski|title=Men's Long Jump Best Year Performance|years=1981–1985|after= Robert Emmiyan}} Mike Miller|title=Men's 200 m Best Year Performance|years=1983–1984|after= Lorenzo Daniel}} Floyd Heard|title=Men's 200 m Best Year Performance|years=1987|after= Joe DeLoach}} Robert Emmiyan|title=Men's Long Jump Best Year Performance|years=1988|after= Larry Myricks}} Mike Powell|title=Men's Long Jump Best Year Performance|years=1992|after= Mike Powell}}

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Category:American sprinters Category:American long jumpers Category:American vegetarians Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games Category:Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Category:James E. Sullivan Award recipients Category:American track and field athletes Category:African American track and field athletes Category:People from Birmingham, Alabama Category:Sportspeople from Alabama Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:American vegans Category:American sportspeople in doping cases Category:Doping cases in athletics Category:Chicago Bulls draft picks Category:University of Houston alumni Category:People from Burlington County, New Jersey Category:New Jersey Democrats Category:High school national record holder Category:Olympic medalists in athletics (track and field)

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Anita Faye Hill (born July 30, 1956) is a professor of social policy, law, and women's studies at Brandeis University at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management and a former colleague of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She gained national exposure for testifying at Thomas' 1991 Senate confirmation hearings alleging that her supervisor Thomas had made provocative and harassing sexual statements.

Early career

Anita F. Hill was born in Lone Tree, Oklahoma. She received her undergraduate degree from Oklahoma State University in 1977 and her Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School in 1980.

Hill was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1980. Hill began her law career as an associate with the Washington, D.C., firm of Wald, Harkrader & Ross. In 1981 she served as counsel to the assistant secretary of the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. From 1982 to 1983, she moved on to serve as assistant to the chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Clarence Thomas (see below). Hill became a professor at the O. W. Coburn School of Law at Oral Roberts University, where she actively taught from 1983 to 1986. In 1986, she joined the faculty at the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

Clarence Thomas controversy

In 1981, Hill became an attorney-adviser to Clarence Thomas at the U.S. Department of Education (''ED''). When Thomas became Chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (''EEOC''), Hill went to the EEOC with Thomas and his then-secretary, Diane Holt, to serve as his special assistant. Hill alleges that it was during these two periods (i.e., during her employment at ED and EEOC) that Thomas made sexually provocative statements.

Although Hill was a career employee and therefore had the option of remaining at the Department of Education, she testified that she followed Thomas because, "[t]he work, itself, was interesting, and at that time, it appeared that the sexual overtures . . . had ended." Also, she testified that she wanted to work in the civil-rights field, and that she believed that "at that time the Department of Education, itself, was a dubious venture."

Thomas was nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States by then-President George H. W. Bush to replace the retiring Justice Thurgood Marshall. On October 11, 1991, Hill was called to testify during the Senate confirmation hearing for Thomas. Hill's allegations against Thomas were made public when information from an FBI interview about the allegations was leaked to the media days before the final Senate vote on his appointment.

Hill's testimony included a wide variety of language that she allegedly was subjected to by Thomas and that she found inappropriate:

He spoke about acts that he had seen in pornographic films involving such matters as women having sex with animals and films showing group sex or rape scenes....On several occasions, Thomas told me graphically of his own sexual prowess....Thomas was drinking a Coke in his office, he got up from the table at which we were working, went over to his desk to get the Coke, looked at the can and asked, "Who has put pubic hair on my Coke?"

Four individuals (Ellen Wells, John W. Carr, Judge Susan Hoerchner, and Joel Paul) testified that Hill had been upset at the time she worked for Thomas about what she had said was sexual harassment by him. Angela Wright, another of Thomas' subordinates, stated that she had not considered the behavior to be sexual harassment, but that others might. She was interviewed by Senate Judiciary Committee staff, but did not testify at the hearings. Wright had been fired by Thomas from the EEOC.

Anita Hill's accusations were viewed suspiciously by Thomas' supporters, partly due to their timing (only revealed during Justice Thomas' confirmation hearings) and the "he said, she said" nature of the discussions made privately between Hill and Thomas. Further cause for suspicion were her actions after the contested events: in addition to following him to the EEOC, after that job concluded she continued personal contact with him, both in public and in private. Anita Hill agreed to take a polygraph test which found that her statements were true. Clarence Thomas refused to take a polygraph test. Thomas made a blanket denial of the accusations, claiming this was a "high-tech lynching". After extensive debate, the U.S. Senate confirmed Thomas by a vote of 52–48.

Effects

Public interest in, and debate over, Hill's testimony is said to have launched modern-day public awareness of the issue of sexual harassment in the United States.

In their Black feminist anthology, ''All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, but Some of Us Are Brave: Black Women's Studies'', Editors Akasha (Gloria T.) Hull, Patricia Bell Scott and Barbara Smith describe Black feminists mobilizing "a remarkable national response to the Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas (Supreme Court nomination) in 1991, naming their effort ''African American Women in Defense of Ourselves''.

In October 2010, almost 20 years after the accusations, Virginia Lamp Thomas, Thomas' wife, sought an apology from Hill in an office voicemail left for her. Hill dismissed the request, maintaining "I testified truthfully about my experience and I stand by that testimony." Hill referred the matter to the Brandeis University campus police with a request that the Federal Bureau of Investigation investigate the call.

Books

Doubts about her testimony were furthered by journalist David Brock's claims of Hill's "true motives", which he described in in his 1993 book ''The Real Anita Hill''. However, in 1997 he recanted those claims, describing the book as "character assassination". Brock, who in 2004 founded the progressive media watchdog organization Media Matters for America, apologized to Hill.

In 1998, Anita Hill wrote her autobiography, ''Speaking Truth To Power'':

I see...the faces of these young people, and I see their hearts and that they really do want change, and that they deserve it. They deserve a better society and so that is what motivates me and I think that I can be a part of creating that and having [been] given that chance, I don't want to blow it.

In 2007, Clarence Thomas published his autobiography, ''My Grandfather's Son'', revisiting the Anita Hill controversy. He describes her as touchy and apt to overreact and her work at the EEOC as mediocre. He wrote:

On Sunday morning, courtesy of ''Newsday'', I met for the first time an Anita Hill who bore little resemblance to the woman who had worked for me at EEOC and the Education Department. Somewhere along the line she had been transformed into a conservative, devoutly religious Reagan-administration employee. In fact she was a left-winger who'd never expressed any religious sentiments whatsoever during the time I'd known her, and the only reason why she'd held a job in the Reagan administration was because I'd given it to her.

In an op-ed piece written by Anita Hill, appearing in the ''New York Times'' on October 2, 2007, Hill writes that she "will not stand by silently and allow [Justice Thomas], in his anger, to reinvent me."

Recent career

Hill has provided expert commentary on many national television programs. Hill has been featured on ''Today,'' ''60 Minutes'' and ''Face the Nation''. Hill is also the author of many articles that have been published in ''The New York Times'', ''Newsweek'', and ''Critical Race Feminism''. In addition, she has contributed to many scholarly and legal publications. Hill has been a speaker in the area of law and women's rights.

In 1995, Hill co-edited ''Race, Gender and Power in America'' with Emma Coleman Jordan. She has also "written extensively on international commercial law, bankruptcy, and civil rights".

On October 29, 1996, Hill resigned from the University of Oklahoma College of Law. She obtained a position at the Institute for the Study of Social Change at University of California, Berkeley in January 1997.

In 1997, Hill joined the faculty of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University, after time at Brandeis University's Women's Studies Program.

In 2005, Hill was selected as a Fletcher Foundation Fellow.

In 2008, Professor Hill was awarded the Louis P. and Evelyn Smith First Amendment Award by the Ford Hall Forum.

In 2011, Hill joined the plaintiffs' law firm Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC as of counsel to their Civil Rights & Employment Practice group.

Anita Hill also serves on the Board of Trustees for Southern Vermont College which is located in Bennington, Vermont.

References

External links

Faculty profile at Brandeis University

Anita Hill's 2007 op-ed for ''The New York Times'' discussing Thomas' Memoir.

Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Hill, Anita

Category:1956 births Category:African American lawyers Category:American legal scholars Category:Living people Category:Washington, D.C. lawyers Category:American lawyers Category:People from Oklahoma Category:Oklahoma State University alumni Category:Brandeis University faculty Category:Yale Law School alumni Category:Oral Roberts University faculty Category:American female lawyers Category:African American female lawyers fr:Anita Hill