( CNN ) -- Named in 1999 as the male `` athlete of the century '' by the International Association of Athletics Federations , Carl Lewis embodied the Olympic motto -- `` Citius , altius , fortius '' ( Faster , higher , stronger ) . Lewis leaps to gold in Barcelona in 1992 . The American twice won gold in the 100 meters , the Olympic blue riband event , but he arguably achieved more in the long jump , a discipline in which he was unbeaten in all competition for a decade and won four straight Olympic gold medals between 1984 and 1996 . Lewis collected four gold medals at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles , emulating the achievement of Jessie Owens in Munich in 1936 . Born in Alabama in the 1960s to parents who were veterans of the civil rights movement , it was a comparison that made Lewis especially proud . Lewis ' 9.9-second victory in the 100 meters by eight feet was the biggest winning margin in Olympic history . Unchallenged in the long jump , Lewis jumped 8.54 meters into the wind with his first effort , fouled on his second leap , and passed on his final four jumps . He also won gold in the 200 meters and as part of the U.S. 4x100 meters relay team . Seoul showdown . The 1988 Games in Seoul , South Korea , were billed as a showdown between Lewis and Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson who had won the 100 meters at the 1987 world championships in a world record 9.83 seconds . Johnson finished first in 9.79 seconds , but three days later he was sent home in disgrace after failing a doping test . Lewis , second on the track , earned another gold medal and was also awarded the world record for his time of 9.93 seconds . He also became the first athlete ever to successfully defend the 100 meters title , a feat he emulated in the long jump . By 1992 in Barcelona , at the age of 31 , Lewis ' career seemed to be on the wane . The previous year he had been beaten in the long jump at the world championships by Mike Powell , who had also broken the world record . But Lewis hit back , beating his American rival by three centimeters with a leap of 8.67 meters for his third straight title . Lewis also earned his eighth career gold by anchoring the U.S. relay team 's victory in the 4x100 meters . The 1996 Games in Atlanta should have been no more than a farewell appearance in an Olympic career that had also begun on home soil . Lewis had barely qualified for the U.S. team , finishing third in the long jump trials . Yet he somehow rose to the occasion , producing his best jump in four years to claim gold again , 12 years after he had first topped the podium , and retire undefeated in Olympic long jump competitions . It was , wrote Rick Reilly in Sports Illustrated , `` quite possibly his most impossible moment in an impossibly brilliant career . ''
Olympic Record : 9 gold medals and 1 silver medal . - World Cup record holder in the 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, 1500 m, 5000 m, 10,000 m, marathon, 4 x 10 km, Marathon, 3 Athlete ; born July 1 , 1961 , in Birmingham , Alabama .