Carl Lewis won four consecutive Olympic men’s long-jump titles from 1984 to 1996.
Lewis first won the event at Los Angeles in 1984, then defended his title at Seoul in 1988, Barcelona in 1992, and Atlanta in 1996. He remains the only athlete to win the same individual Olympic athletics event at four successive Games.
His achievement is especially notable because the long jump is a highly technical event in which consistency across twelve years is difficult. Lewis combined elite sprint speed with a powerful take-off and reliable competition technique.
Mike Powell defeated Lewis at the 1991 World Championships and set the current men’s long-jump world record of 8.95 metres there. Powell never won Olympic long-jump gold, while Bob Beamon held the Olympic record with 8.90 metres until it was surpassed in 2020.