The Story of Carl Lewis

Brut America

He’s one of the most dominant track & field athletes the world has ever seen. But the career of the "sportsman of the century" hasn’t been without controversy. This is the story of Carl Lewis.

Transcript

00:30My mother was heavily involved in track and field athletics, so she was kind of the leading

00:37factor in establishing this club.

00:39I was really proud of what she accomplished, and it was just pretty amazing that I was

00:44able to take it to the next level, but it wouldn't have happened without her support.

01:30It's funny because the first one I was excited, the fourth one I was relieved, because it

01:43had been like a multi-year task.

01:46It was three years in planning to get to this one week.

01:48I was more tired emotionally than I was happy.

02:00Well, I

02:29hope that the rest of the world looks at that as we are not going to take any bull attitude

02:35in terms of drugs, because we can't stop.

02:38We have to continue to push on against drugs.

02:52I wanted to keep my weight under control with a healthier diet.

02:56I wasn't eating properly.

02:57I was skipping meals deliberately.

02:59It was an overall lifestyle change to help me feel better, but also to perform the way

03:03I needed to and not do things that are destructive to my body.

03:11It wasn't an easy thing.

03:22It wasn't like, oh, I got this.

03:24I didn't realize any of that happened until really the last five meters.

03:28It was a couple of years of practice, fixing mistakes, great races, disappointments, and

03:34all of that in order to get there.

03:59When you win your first gold medal in the Olympic Games, nothing matches that because

04:03it's your first.

04:05And then my last one.

04:06My last one was, it took a lot of work, but it also took a lot of friends that propped

04:11me up.

04:12It was exciting.

04:13And when the event was over and got the medal and the anthem finished, I knew it was time

04:18to move on because I couldn't top that.

04:25Basically, I just woke up one day and realized I became my parents.

04:43I want to give, not just try to save a kid or anything.

04:47That's not what it's about.

04:48It's about giving them a path to focus.

04:49I was a very late bloomer.

04:51I didn't start to develop until I was 16.

04:55So if I had quit at 14 or 15, then that would have never happened for me.

05:01So just don't give up.

05:02Just stay at it.

05:03You may not be the best, but stay at it and run it all the way through, and then you'll

05:06be the best you can be.

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