Carl Lewis has gotten under the skin of Jamaican track and field fans with his meanderings about the possibility of Usain Bolt repeating as Olympic 100m champion in 2012. Lewis, the only man to do the trick with his wins in 1984 and 1988, submitted two trains of thought in a recent interview. The first is that repeating as Olympic 100m champion is difficult and the second is that lightning quick competition may arise by 2012.
Fans may object but the American’s questions are reasonable enough. A review of track and field history, some of it made by Lewis himself, provides Bolt with some encouragement.
While no man but Lewis has done it, fellow Americans Wyomia Tyus and Gail Devers have won the
Olympic 100m gold medal back-to-back, in 1964 and 1968 for Tyus and 1992 and 1996 for Devers. On the men's side, Linford Christie of Great Britain almost did it in reverse with a silver in 1988 and gold in 1992 and Ukraine’s Valery Borzov got gold in 1972 and bronze in 1976 wearing the red vest of the old Soviet Union.
Why didn't Bob Hayes or Jim Hines repeat? Both went off to play in the NFL after winning the Olympic 100 in 1964 and 1968 respectively for the United States. Had Bullet Bob stayed in track and field, I'm certain he would have beaten Hines, Jamaica’s Lennox Miller and Charlie Green in Mexico in 1968. After all, he ran 10.05 on cinders to win in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. I'm not sure that too many of today's sprinters can run that fast on dirt.
You may recall that these were the days before there was a professional track and field circuit. Back then, the Olympic gold medal was a stepping stone for US sprinters to the big bucks of American football. People didn't stick around.
Maybe Jesse Owens would have repeated in 1940, if not for World War II and if there was a professional track circuit back then? Who knows what might have happened? The World Championships present some interesting facts. Lewis won the 100m in 1983, 1987 and 1991, with a world record of 9.86 seconds in the latter. Maurice Greene, another American, won in 1997, 1999 and 2001, with an Olympic victory in 2000.
Lewis at 30, Christie at 33
Lewis won in 1991 at 30, with Christie winning in 1992 and at the 1993 Worlds at 32 and 33 with Greene winning an Olympic bronze in 2004 at 30. Given those ages, it seems to me that Bolt has sufficient time to match and surpass their achievements in the 100m. Should he win at the 2011 Worlds and repeat as Olympic champion, then he would deserve comparison with Lewis and Greene with bonus points earned because of his monumental world records of 9.72, 9.69 and 9.58 seconds.
Lewis and Greene both won one major title at 200m, Lewis in the 1984 Games and Maurice in the 1999 World Championships. Bolt is already ahead of them in this event with silver from 2007 and gold medal/world record runs from 2008 and 2009. Neither Greene nor Lewis has ever held a world record at 200m, and while Lewis also got an Olympic silver medal in 1988, he never won a World Championship medal over the distance. So these two Americans are ahead of Bolt on honors won in the 100m but Bolt leads at 200m.
Lewis is also history's finest long jumper with four Olympic gold medals and two World gold medals. He might have won more had the World Championships been held every two years and not every four years before 1991. Who could possibly beat Bolt in the London 100? At full pitch, Asafa Powell can probably run faster than 9.65 and that’s a speed zone that Tyson Gay can approach too. They, or any other challenger, may have to go even faster to beat the tall man in 2012.
There is but one conclusion. If he is healthy, Bolt is a good bet to match Lewis as a repeat winner of the Olympic 100 title. Time will tell.
Hubert Lawrence, author of the 'Champs 100' book, has covered local and international track and field since 1987.