Sports Illustrated - Carl Lewis

The Olympics have begun so for the next couple of weeks, let's feature University of Houston Olympians.

When you talk about the Olympics, to me one athlete stands out above the rest, Carl Lewis. 10 Olympic medals including 9 gold in 4 Olympic Games from 1984 to 1996.

Sports Illustrated included Carl Lewis on six covers with five rlated to the Olympics of the Olympic trials. Today let's look at each SI issue.

August 23rd, 1983

The only non-Olympic cover, this issue features Lewis at the World Championships in Helsinki where he won the long jump and 100 meter.

June 25th, 1984

Lewis wins at the Olympic trials.

August 20th, 1984

Lewis is pictured with the USA relay team. He wins four gold medals, 100 meter, 200 meter, 4x100 meter relay, and long jump.

No SI cover for the 1988 games despite gold medals in the 100 meter and long jump and silver medal in the 200 meter (behind another Cougar Joe DeLoach). Featured instead was Ben Johnson who had won the 100 meter race, but he was disqualified for steroid use. Other Olympians featured in 1988 were Florence Griffith Joyner and Jackie Joyner Kersee.

August 17th, 1992

Two more Olympic gold medals in Barcelona in the 4x100 meter relay and long jump. Lewis is again pictured with the relay team.

December 28th, 1992

The images of 1992 issue features Lewis enjoying the 4x100 victory.

August 5th, 1996

The cover proclaims Lewis as "The Best Ever" with an amazing photograph of him landing a long jump. He wins the long jump for his ninth gold medal.

1992 Classic World Class Athletes - Carl Lewis

Today I'm going to focus on the greatest athlete to come out of the University of Houston. That's quite a bold, definitive statement. I wouldn't say that about the best basketball player to come out of UH or the best football player. But I can be confident about this statement because I'm talking about what many consider the greatest athlete in history. Of course I'm talking about Carl Lewis.

Most people are aware of his Olympic history: 10 Olympic medals including 9 gold. Some people are aware of his World Championship history: 10 medals including 8 gold. But let's look at his time at the University of Houston.

Carl selected the University of Houston over Tennessee. As a freshman in 1980, he won the Southwest Conference indoor long jump as well as the NCAA indoor and outdoor long jump competitions. He qualified for the Olympics (although the USA did not compete due to the boycott) and was ranked number 5 in the world.

In 1981, he won the NCAA indoor and outdoor long jump championships as well as the NCAA 100 meters. Being rated number one in the world in the long jump and 100 meters on top of being the NCAA champion, he had nothing left to prove in college and decided not to pursue his final two years of eligibility. He also won the Sullivan Award as the USA Amateur Athlete of the Year.

Today's cards are from the 1992 Classic World Class Athletes set. This set featured 60 cards if athletes from a variety of sports. The set primarily focused on Olympic athletes, but it also featured NBA players, tennis players, football players, and boxers. The set also features another UH track great, Leroy Burrell.

Carl Lewis is featured on card #1 in the set as well as card #58. He was also featured on a promo card.