THE YEAR AHEAD IN SPORTS: Interview with CARL LEWIS / Ex-sprint king has his act together
The Yomiuri Shimbun
In Tokyo in 1991, at the first and only world athletics championships held in Asia, American star Carl Lewis endeared himself to Japanese fans with electrifying performances; a world record in the 100 meters, a silver medal in the long jump–in which it took a world record by Mike Powell to beat him–and a 4x100 relay gold, also with a world record.
Since retiring in 1997, Lewis has been involved in a variety of pursuits, including acting, singing and The Carl Lewis Foundation, promoting self-esteem in inner city kids through sports and other programs. Ironically, the nine-time Olympic gold medalist has found little time for athletics, although he recently launched a program to develop elite athletes.
While on a recent trip to Japan to film a TV special, Lewis met with The Yomuri Shimbun sportswriter Ken Tamura, talking at length about his memories of Tokyo 1991, his career and life after track. Here are excerpts:
Yomiuri: You won nine gold medals in the Olympics, but you have said the 1991 world championships was particularly special. Why is that?
Lewis: Mainly, because it’s my best performance. And I had just such a great relationship for so many years with the people of Japan.
You won the 100-meter final in a world record 9.86 seconds. Do you still remember the feeling you had at the finish?
It’s great. For me it was amazing. The thing is that there were a lot of things involved in that. Of course, I was competing against my teammate Leroy Burrell, so that was part of it. I’d just lost the world record two months earlier, so it was great to get it back. I felt like I ran technically a very good race, so that was another thing that was very important. It wasn’t a race where just I won it because I ran faster than everyone that day; I ran very well for me that day.
Do you still remember the quietness of the start and the cheers of the crowd at the finish?
Absolutely, but in a sense of those times that…it’s funny, because it’s like 15 years ago now, which is bizarre to me, it’s so long now. Obviously a lot of things have happened in my life between then, I’ve retired and all that. I still remember that as a very, very special moment–a special race, a special week, because it was eight days and I was in three events and I remember that as a very, very special time.
Many fans still remember the long jump, in which you lost the gold medal to Mike Powell. Did that change anything for you?
He jumped very, very well and set the world record. I jumped my best, he jumped his best and it was great for the fans and I thought it was a great competition. So no, it didn’t really change [anything]. Fortunately for me I was able to go on and have success. But Mike jumped well that day. He earned it and he set the world record. I left pleased with my performance so I think it was a good thing for everybody.
The year 1991 saw a turning point of athletics away from amateur and more to professional. What do you think about it?
I think it was an on-going thing. That was definitely a part of it. It was something that we started in the mid-80s…But it was part of an on-going process. But even now it’s still a long way from where it should be and unfortunately in a lot of ways it’s regressed quite a bit and that’s sad to see.
For you, what were the differences between the Olympics and world championships.
There is more sense of urgency now at the Olympics because [the world championships] are every two years. When it was here it was every four years still so I thought that’s why the Tokyo was probably the best world championships since then because it was the third and last one held every four years. Since then I feel it’s been watered down going every two years. Not necessarily because I don’t think it can be sustained, but it’s just that they haven’t had the marketing and the way it should be to make it that successful. In America the Super Bowl is successful every year. Why can’t the worlds be successful every two years? It’s because the Super Bowl is marketed very well and the worlds is not.
When you hear the word “Tokyo,” what comes to mind?
I’ve been here many times, so obviously the world championships, but also great shopping and fun people. I could name a lot of things. I’ve been to Tokyo over 20 times, so I have a lot of great memories.
Does it remind you of the excitement of the world championships?
I don’t really put it in that context anymore because I’m retired from that. Now, for me, Tokyo means something different because, that was an exciting, wonderful time for me, but that was 15 years ago. I look forward to more things, exciting, new things in the future. Just like I’m here this week shooting a TV show. Obviously a lot of that is because people know who I am, but it’s something new that I do now. That was fun, I felt like I was back and I was doing great things in Japan and Tokyo again that I’ve done in the past but from a different perspective.
What do you expect in Osaka next year?
It’s interesting because I’ve been far, far away from the world of athletics. Since my retirement I’ve not been to one worlds, one nationals or any major meets. So I think it will be interesting and right now I’m still in the process to see whether I’m going to be there or not. But I’ve really chosen to stand back from the sport quite a lot since my retirement. And it was my choice. I have a new program called the “Carl Lewis’ Elite Athletes Program” that will get me back involved in the sport. But just from putting together a team of coaches and staff people that can work with athletes, but we’ll see if I’m going to be back involved there. Of course I hope the best and expect it to do very well because the Japanese people know how to do it. But I’ve just been so far removed from it, it’s just hard for me to make a comment at this point.
To be the champion in the 100 meters and to have the world record, what did that mean to you?
Then, when I competed, it was part of the ultimate goal. Because my ultimate goal was to be the best that I could be. And that was a process along the way. To be best that I could be and to be Olympic champion or whatever, you had to ultimately run faster. So I felt that to be the best that I could be meant ultimately to be the best ever. So therefore I had to win the Olympics, I had to win the world championships and I had to set the world record and I was fortunate enough to achieve that.
Did you feel pressure from that?
Of course there’s pressure. There’s pressure in everything that we do, it’s just how you handle it. Fortunately for me I didn’t focus of the pressure. I just focused on being the best that I could be and on the competition, that’s why I was able to get through it.
You wrote in your book that Jesse Owens was your hero. Why is that?
I had a lot of people that I looked up to and he was definitely one of them. I admired what he did as an athlete and as a person and fortunately for me I was able to meet him as a kid, so that was something also.
(edit)
Acting, like athletics, allows you to express yourself. Why did you want to become an actor?
A lot things are similar. I always wanted to be [an actor]. I started studying 20 years ago and it was something I knew I wanted to do after I retired.
If you were reborn, would you again be an athlete, or just an actor, or follow the same path?
In the next world, I just want to be leader of the free world, so that I can try to create peace and try to get rid of disease and stop wars and get rid of guns. That’s what I would love to be. Forget about running and doing the Olympics. I just want to be leader of the free world. Then we wouldn’t be in places like Iraq fighting and acting a fool. We would be in Africa taking care of AIDS in kids, we’d be in schools educating kids. That’s what I’m going to be. If I had my own choice, forget just running, I don’t want to run anymore. I want to rule the world--but do it in a way that great people are doing it and make a difference.
What has been the most important thing to you since retiring?
That’s a broad question. The most important thing is moving on in my life. That’s one of the problems athletes have, they can’t move on to the next phase. So by starting my company, becoming an actor, getting involved in business, I did that. Looked back on a wonderful career that I love, but moved on in life because I had most of my life to life. I competed for 18 years, but I should be around here another 30 or 40 or 50 years, so that’s the most important thing, to have something that you enjoy and move on.
(Jan. 1, 2007)