Carl Lewis developed as an athlete in Willingboro, New Jersey, a town where his parents taught school and coached track. Bill and Evelyn Lewis taught and coached at the township's schools and founded the Willingboro Track Club, which served as a feeder program for local teams. Carl's first coach was his father, followed by Andy Dudek and Paul Minore at Willingboro High School. Many colleges recruited him, and he chose the University of Houston, joining in 1979. There he trained under Tom Tellez, who remained his coach into his professional career, beginning a connection with the university that would eventually include coaching. A published history of African Americans in college sports identifies Lewis among the Black athletes who received the AAU's Sullivan Award.
He qualified for the 1980 Olympic team, but the United States boycott kept the entire American team out of the Moscow Games, delaying his Olympic debut by four years. Four years later in Los Angeles, he won gold in the 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump and 4-by-100-meter relay. The sweep covered sprints, a field event and a relay.
Lewis won nine Olympic gold medals across four Games. His final Olympic victory came in the long jump at Atlanta in 1996, giving him four consecutive titles in that event. At the 1991 World Championships, Mike Powell ended Lewis's 65-meet winning streak in the long jump. Lewis won the 100 meters at that same meet, running a then-world-record 9.86 seconds.
Coaching brought Lewis back to the setting where he had trained with Tellez. Houston appointed him head track coach in July 2022. In 2024, one of his athletes, Louie Hinchliffe, won the NCAA men's 100-meter championship. Hinchliffe and fellow Houston athlete Shaun Maswanganyi later earned Olympic relay medals with their respective national teams, Great Britain and South Africa. The sprinter who once trained in Houston now trains Olympians there.
