He Didn’t Miss a Chance : Lewis Takes All Six Leaps in Winning the Long Jump at 27-1 3/4 at the Forum

First, to the big news: Carl Lewis took all six jumps Friday night at the Forum and won the long jump at the Times/Kodak Indoor Games with a pedestrian leap of 27-1 3/4. That’s a meet record, but a mere hop for the American indoor record-holder and Olympic champion.

And now the fashion news: Carl’s new aircraft-carrier hairdo is shorter, slicker and even more mod than his former Grace Jones-style. He’s still got last year’s silver-grey custom warmups and the orange and blue track suit. And of course, the red, white and blue socks with his name stitched at mid-calf.

As Carl said, not much has changed from the pre-Olympic Lewis. He still wins, he still makes competitors wonder why they bothered paying their entry fees.

It’s not as if the other jumpers aren’t trying to beat Lewis. Like crazy, they are trying. But even by falling well short of his best (28-10), Lewis still demolished a respectable field. And in case anyone has tired of counting, Lewis scored his 40th straight long jump win. That leaves him only one short of George Brown’s record, set in 1950-52.

Tonight, he’ll run the 60-yard dash at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. He’ll also, by request of the meet promoters, sing the national anthem before the meet.

In the long jump, Lewis has a well-documented habit of passing his last few attempts once he has the competition won. That happened at the Olympics, and it happened last month in New York. There, Lewis passed his final two attempts and complained of tenderness in his groin. The crowd booed. Then Lewis booed the media, for painting him as a bad guy.

“Overall, many people are not knowledgeable about myself and track and field,” Lewis said. “They said some things that aren’t true. Many people try to create this arrogance and aloofness in me. I really haven’t changed at all.

“I don’t worry about the past anymore. I don’t think anybody, especially in sport, dwells on the past.”

The future for Lewis is filled with more jet-setting and deals. He’s into acting, singing and television commentary. Lewis said he is still concentrating on track but wants to squeeze in those activities that will carry him into old age. At this pace, the 23-year-old Lewis will be lucky to have any hair left to style.

“I’m a bit down,” he said. “I’ve been doing quite a bit of traveling. I may be fatigued. I have been in five cities in six days. It’s hectic, but I seem to have time to practice. No matter where I am, people seem to make space for me.

“This is the year to concentrate on the long jump. This year, I want to push the long jump out as far as I can. After that, the 200 (meters). I’m not going toward a world record, but certainly a PR (personal record). Last year, was the first year I haven’t improved on the long jump.”