Did Carl Lewis Fail a Drug Test? Olympic Long Jump Controversy

The second of Carl Lewis' four consecutive Olympic long jump victories, in 1988 didn't become controversial for another fifteen years. In 2003, the U.S. Olympic Committee's former director for drug control, Dr. Wade Exum, revealed that Lewis had tested positive for small amounts of three banned stimulants at the 1988 Olympic Trials. The U.S. Olympic Committee neither banned Lewis nor released the test results publicly, ruling that his drug use was inadvertent and that the low levels discovered were not performance-enhancing. The levels of stimulants found in his test were less than 10 micrograms per milliliter.

Lewis didn’t deny the test results after they became public in 2003, but noted that he was treated the same as other U.S. athletes in similar positions.

"Everyone was treated the same, so what are we talking about? I don't get it," Lewis told the media after Exum’s revelations. Lewis, who received a warning following the positive tests in 1988, also denied that the stimulants he took were performance-enhancing.

The International Olympic Committee didn’t review the situation because its three-year statute of limitations had expired.

Lewis was also awarded the 100-meter gold medal in 1988 when apparent winner Ben Johnson was disqualified after testing positive for steroids.