Carl Lewis, acclaimed the greatest athlete of all time, is in Egypt. Abeer Anwar discovers what brought the king to this part of the world Carl Lewis, who sprinted and leapt his way to nine Olympic gold medals and into the history books, is currently in Egypt as part of a Special Olympics Egypt (SOE) running exhibition for mentally disabled athletes. Lewis arrived in Egypt after buying two Best Buddies tickets in an auction held in the United States. The tickets, presented by SOE, give their owner the chance to visit Egypt and tour Luxor and Aswan. As a result, Lewis, accompanied by his mother Evelin, are at present in the neighbourhood. "Carl Lewis is very humble to give us so much of his time," SOE Chairman Ismail Osman said. "He is very humanitarian and is very pleased that he will join our mentally handicapped in their marathon." Joking with Lewis, Ayman Abdel- Wahab, the managing director of Special Olympics Middle East and North Africa (SO MENA), said in introducing Lewis, "You'll face strong competition from our Special Olympics athletes. They're the title holders in the 2003 World Summer Games, so take care." On a more serious note, Abdel- Wahab added that this was the first time an international player of such acclaim joins SO MENA athletes. "This is the start and we would appreciate it if other well-known athletes such as Carl Lewis come to promote the Special Olympics movement throughout the world, especially in the MENA region." "King Carl" will join the mentally disabled athletes of SOE in their marathon tomorrow. The run begins from the Pyramids and ends at Misr Language Schools, SOE's headquarters. The public is welcome to participate. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most of the participants to run alongside Lewis whose 17 gold medals won between the Olympic Games and world track and field championships earned him the "athlete of the century" title. With his unsurpassed talent in the long jump and his speed in the sprints, Lewis has gone places where no other track and field athlete has ever visited. Frederick Carlton Lewis was born on 1 July 1961 in Birmingham, Alabama, the same county as his boyhood idol, Olympian Jesse Owens. His father was a friend of Owens; thus Lewis grew up with the legend of the man who won four gold medals in the Olympic Games of Berlin 1936. The third of five brothers, Lewis spent his childhood in Willingboro, New Jersey. Born into a sports family, Lewis's father used to train athletes at university while mother Evelin finished sixth in the 80 metres hurdles at the Pan-American Games in 1951. Lewis watched the 1968 Olympics on TV but never imagined that he would one day play a starring role in the tournament. Lewis entered sports following the advice of doctors who thought him too thin. As he himself recounts, "I played a variety of sports but I wasn't good at sport. A lot of boys did better at the same age and I was always beaten by my sister Carol" in the track his parents constructed for them around the garden of their house. But Lewis was eventually good enough to win four gold medals at the 1984 Olympics, equalling Owens's accomplishment. He sped to a world record in the 100 metres. And then, when it appeared to be time for him to leave the jumping to younger athletes, he fooled us. At the age of 35, he won his fourth consecutive Olympic long jump in 1996. That unexpected and stunning victory gave Lewis his ninth Olympic gold medal, tying him for the largest gold collection with US swimmer Mark Spitz, Finnish long-distance runner Paavo Nurmi and Soviet gymnast Larysa Latynina. Carl was seven when Bob Beamon set the remarkable long jump record -- 29 feet, two inches at the 1968 Olympics -- that would possess Lewis for his career. He competed in track on the town club his parents coached. When he was 10, he and a cousin had their picture taken with Owens, who advised him to have fun. Small for his age and shy, Lewis sprouted so suddenly at 15 (two and a half inches in a month) that he had to walk with crutches for three weeks while his body adjusted. As a high school senior, his 26-8 leap broke the national prep long jump record. Lewis went to the University of Houston instead of local track power Villanova to become more independent. By 1981 he was No 1 in the world in the 100 metres as well as the long jump. Two years later, he won the 100, 200 and long jump at the US national championships, the first person to achieve this triple since Malcolm Ford in 1886. The six-foot-two, 173-pound Lewis had even grander plans for the 1984 Olympics: four gold medals. First came the 100 metres. With a burst that was clocked at 28 mph at the finish, Lewis won by an incredible eight feet -- the biggest margin in Olympic history -- in 9.9 seconds. Lewis captured the long jump with his first leap -- 28 feet into the wind. After fouling on his second attempt, Lewis, who had six races behind him and five more to go, passed on his last four jumps. The fans in Los Angeles didn't care about his heavy schedule; they booed him for not challenging Beamon's record. Lewis won the 200 in a then-Olympic record 19.80 seconds and completed his quest by running a 8.94 anchor leg on the victorious 4x100 relay team. No one had ever successfully defended either the long jump or 100-metre title in the Olympics; Lewis won both in 1988. Competing in the long jump final just 55 minutes after he qualified in the preliminaries of the 200, Lewis finished first with a leap of 28 feet, seven inches. In the 100, Lewis was beaten to the finish line by Ben Johnson, who ran a remarkable 9.79 seconds. But the steroid-using Canadian was stripped of the gold medal for failing a drug test, and Lewis was moved up to first. His 9.92 seconds was listed as the world record. Lewis, whose two-year winning streak in the 200 had been snapped at the Olympic Trials when he was beaten by training partner Joe DeLoach, was overtaken in the '88 Olympics 200 by DeLoach with 30 metres left and lost by 0.04 seconds. Lewis never got an opportunity to go for the gold in the 4x100 as the US was disqualified in the first round (without Lewis) for an improper baton pass. The 1991 World Championships in Tokyo were quite incredible -- in both the 100 metres and long jump. Lewis won one and lost the other. In the 100, six runners broke 10 seconds, with Lewis leading the pack after a mighty finish. "He passed us like we were standing still," said runner-up Leroy Burrell. For the first time in his life, after going undefeated in the long jump for a decade -- winning 65 consecutive competitions -- after winning six Olympic gold medals, Lewis had at last set a world record (since broken) with his 9.86 seconds. "The best race of my life," Lewis said. "The best technique, the fastest. And I did it at 30." But Lewis's 10-year unbeaten streak in the long jump came to an end five days later, even though he put together the greatest series of jumps in history. Lewis had never before reached 29 feet, but this day he did it three times, against the wind. But Mike Powell, who had lost 15 consecutive times to Lewis, unleashed the longest jump in history -- 29 feet, four inches. At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Lewis exacted revenge on Powell, who had the record that Lewis craved, when he edged him by one and a half inches with a leap of 28-5. Lewis won his eighth gold medal by anchoring the record-setting 4x100 relay team. But eight wasn't enough for him. Lewis, who qualified third in the 1996 Olympic Trials in the long jump, showed he still had one huge leap left in him. His 27-10 at Atlanta was his longest jump at sea level in four years. Lewis, handsome and articulate, stayed clean in a dirty sport, becoming a crusader against steroid use. Now 42, Lewis is in fashion designing and is also trying his hand at acting. He's in the process of shooting his first movie.
