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Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games - Day 8

Legendary sprinter Carl Lewis named ambassador of the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24

American spinster and track and field legend Carl Lewis has been named the World Athletics Ambassador for the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas from May 4 to 5.

During a remarkable career, the nine-time Olympic champion won fibe global 4x200m titles. One of the greatest athletes of all time, Lewis won his first Olympic relay gold medal at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.

He also won three individual gold medals in the 100m, 200m, and long jump events in the same event.

The American team repeated their victory in the relay event at the 1992 Games held in Barcelona. Carl Lewis also won four world championship 4x100m relay titles in Helsinki in 1983, Rome in 1987, Tokyo in 1991 and Stuttgart in 1993.

The eight-time world titleholder stated that nothing compares to the excitement of the competition, and he is eagerly looking forward to watching the world's best athletes as they strive to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris.

World Athletics took to their X platform to announce Carl Lewis as the ambassador for the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24. In reply to that tweet, Carl Lewis said:

“I love the Bahamas and look forward to seeing the great competition. I love this event”.

The Olympic champion also shared his memories of the World Athletics Relay race in the Bahamas in 2017 and expressed his feelings at being announced as the tournament's brand ambassador, saying(via worldathletics.org):

“I was in The Bahamas for the 2017 edition of the World Relays and it’s great to be going back, this time as World Athletics ambassador for the event where I aim to promote the competition and showcase the sport.”

The first edition of the World Athletics Relays was conducted in the Bahamas in 2014. This year Bahamas expects to host 1600 athletes representing 50 nations. Men's and women's teams will race across 4×100m and 4×400-meter events this year in 2024.

Olympic Long Jump Gold Medalist Carl Lewis tears into potential long jump rule change

Carl Lewis stood opposed the potential rule change in the long jump take-off position proposed by the World Athletics Sports Organization CEO John Ridgeon.

Long jump is one of the iconic Olympic events, and recently the World Athletics CEO John Ridgeon suggested a rule change for the event. In an appearance on the ‘Anybody But Footy’ podcast he proposed a rule that would eliminate foul jumps by replacing the traditional takeoff board with a takeoff ‘zone’.

The former Olympic long jump champion Lewis shared his opinion on the proposed rule change in a recent post on X, stating:

“ You're supposed to wait until April 1st for April Fools [sic] jokes,"

He even added:

"This issue is more about culture than competition. The long jump has been the same since the beginning, and when the performances no longer meet the standard, they want to make it easier. This is about Everybody Wins. The culture of now."

Lewis was an outstanding athlete in the Olympic long jump event, and won four consecutive Olympic gold medals. In the year 1991, he set a world record with an impressive jump of 8.87 meters, thereby becoming one of the greatest long jump athletes in history.

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