Athletes envy. It’s a shameful thing. Usain Bolt is putting all the sprinters in the world, past & present, to shame. So what do they do? Well, in Carl Lewis’ case, it’s throwing baseless allegations at stimulant use by not only Bolt but by the entire Jamaican track & field program.
He has IOC chief Jacques Rogge, the man who won’t allow a moment of silence in memory of the Munich victims to ruin his Olympic celebration, to back him up. Not with the drugs. Hell no, Rogge won’t step into that minefield. But he just says that Bolt, a man who has just won the 100-200 double in two Olympic games, running 19.68 and 19.63 in the 100, 19.30 and 19.32 in the 200, isn’t a legend. He needs three or four Olympic games to reach that status.
Bolt heard, thought, and decided to fire back at Lewis, a man who has tested positive for stimulant use before the 1988 Olympic games, but that was swept under the rug so he’ll win more gold medals in Seoul. Luckily for Lewis, Ben Johnson got caught during the Olympic games. Lewis had the USA to cover his back.
I think a lot of these guys who sit and talk, especially Lewis, no one really remembers who he is, so he is just looking for attention. I am going to say something controversial right now: Carl Lewis, I have no respect for him. The things he says about the track athletes is really downgrading. For another athlete to be saying something like that about other athletes.
There’s no denying that it has crossed our mind more than once that Bolt is on PEDs. We’re not naive anymore, and too many greats, champions, record breakers and gold medalists have tested positive over the years, with Marion Jones and Ben Johnson always being the stand out cases. But Bolt has never tested positive, and sometimes it all looks like an American spin, just like in the case of the Chinese swimmers a week ago in the swimming competitions, trying to fight off the changing time, and a nation taking over a field they once ruled.
Carl Lewis was a huge star, but his personality often hurts his achievements on the track and in the long jump sandbox. He’s the most decorated Olympic athlete in track and field with 9 of gold and 1 of silver. I’m not sure Bolt will reach that 10. He’s already at 5, perfect in his finals. There’s a good chance he’ll end these Olympic games with 6 after the 4×100 relay, maybe another world record. But Bolt is greater than Lewis because thus far, he’s clean as a whistle, while breaking every record in the book. Because he makes people smile and excited every time he shows up on camera or steps on the track.
And so far, he hasn’t had the chance to be retired, envious and cranky, which has made Lewis much less impressive than he was during his active days because of his big mouth and not-so-big inner him. Carl Lewis was the sportsman of the century and a million other titles, but his legacy will always be tainted, despite never officially being reprimanded or punished for it. Just like many of the athletes during the drugged up age of Olympic sports, he enjoyed the benefit of the doubt, something Bolt won’t if he ever test positive. But so far he hasn’t, and we hope he never will. We don’t like to see legends falling apart before our very eyes.