TOKYO: Carl Lewis almost went mad after beating the world record with an unbelievable time of 9.86 seconds in the men’s 100-meter finals on Sunday at the World Athletics Championships.
“This is definitely the happiest day of my career. There is no way to describe how I feel” said the triple world champion after beating the 9.90 world record.
“But I couldn’t have done it without Leroy and I want to thank everyone with the Santa Monica Race Track (Club).”
The 30-yr-old American sprint king went on “This is the greatest race of all. I am in the best shape of my life and it’s just a matter of doing everything right. To be 30 and run the race of my life is just great.
He also told the press that Leroy Burrell gave him the motivation.
“The real big difference for me has been motivation. When the chips were down I came through today. My start is criticized but today I did start well for me” said Lewis.
Burrell said it was the fastest race and he was glad to be part of it.
Burrell said “Car] is the greatest runner in the world and I am very happy for him to better my world record. It is the greatest race ever run in history”.
REAL CHAMPION: “Of course I wanted to win the race but Carl is the real champion. 1 am proud of him” said Lewis’s club-mate and the pre-race favorite.
“Carl is the two time champion while I am the newcomer in the meet. It is not an upset for me because I also ran my personal best I learned a great deal from the race.
“To be 30 To be able to put together the best race of my life. It’s wonderful” said the flamboyant Lewis after a lap of honor with Burrell and Denis Mitchell.
Article extracted from this publication >> September 13, 1991
