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A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, heard, observed, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here. One exception: No products will be endorsed.

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What: “Beyond the Glory.”

Where: Fox Sports Net, Sunday, 8 p.m.

Carl Lewis, a shy kid who earned nine Olympic gold medals and tremendous fame, is the subject of the latest edition of “Beyond the Glory.”

His name is plastered all over Olympic history books, but another former Olympian’s records -- those of Jesse Owens -- inspired a young Lewis to work hard and stay determined.

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Lewis was born in Birmingham, Ala., during the Civil Rights movement and his parents quickly realized that they did not want to raise their children in the South, so they headed to New Jersey.

As a kid, Lewis competed in his own personal track meets, running around the house, making makeshift long jump pits and tracks.

The 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles were his coming-out party and he won four gold medals. But not everything was smooth. Lewis’ first jump in the long jump was good enough for the gold medal, and hoping to conserve energy for two other events, he decided not to jump again. For the first time in his life, he was booed.

Lewis capped his legendary career with a final gold medal in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

In the documentary, Lewis says, “I was given an unbelievable God-given talent to run fast and jump far.”

Of his adversarial relationship with the media, he says, “They could stab me in the back, they could do whatever they want, but they couldn’t stop me from winning.”

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-- Larry Stewart

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