Steve Lewis

Education

He transferred to American High School in Fremont, California following his sophomore year, where he graduated in 1987.

Career

Born in Los Angeles, California, Steve Lewis took up track at Sutter Middle School and later went to Banning High School. While at American he competed in track and field and still holds the Mission Valley Athletic League record in the 400 meters. He would go on to attend University of California, Los Los Angeles As a freshman at University of California, Los Angeles, Lewis had a spectacular year in 1988, when the precocious 19-year-old not only completely rewrote the world junior all-time list in the 400 m, but also proved his mettle in senior competition, by winning the Olympic gold medal.

Despite this performance, Lewis could only finish third in the final in 44.37, having been well beaten by his older compatriots, Butch Reynolds and Danny Everett.

By the end of 1988, Lewis had run what still rank as 7 of the top ten junior 400 metre races of all time. The rest of Lewis" career was affected by injury and an ongoing viral illness, and he never again competed at a major international championships.

Lewis was inducted into the University of California, Los Angeles Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004.

Achievements

• He won the CIF California State Meet in 1986 and 1987. Lewis had not been a total unknown prior to 1988, having set a personal best of 45.76 at the 1987 United States of America national junior championships, but he caught many unawares when he won his quarter-final at the United States of America Olympic Trials with new world junior record of 44.61, and then slashed this time the following day, when he won his semi-final in 44.11. In the Olympic Games at Seoul, Reynolds was the clear favourite to win the gold medal, and few people took Lewis" chances seriously, but in the Olympic final Lewis set a fast pace in the early stages while Reynolds held back. Although Reynolds closed near the finish, Lewis held on to win in 43.87, still the United States, North American and World junior record. Steve won a second gold medal three days later, as a member of the victorious United States of America 4 × 400 m relay team which equalled the world record of 2:56.16 that had stood since the 1968 Olympics. In 1990, he won National Collegiate Athletic Association Championships in the 400 m and went on to win the United States Track and Field Championships in the same event. In 1992, Lewis, once again, competed at the Olympic Games in Barcelona and won a silver medal in the 400 m and a gold medal in the 4 × 400 m relay, which broke the world record (2:5574), that Lewis had previously helped tie in the 1988 Olympic Games.