Five-time Olympian Carl Lewis staged a farewell encore Saturday at the University of Houston with a ceremonial quarter-lap on the track where his phenomenal 18-year career began.
Backed up by training partners from the Santa Monica Track Club 400-meter relay team - Mike Marsh, Leroy Burrell and Floyd Heard - Lewis finished not the fastest 100 he's ever anchored but one of the most gratifying."It's been a long road, been a lot of fights, it's been a lot of fun," Lewis said after finishing the ceremonial "final run" at halftime of the Houston-Pittsburgh football game. "But to quote a song by Frank Sinatra, `I did it my way,' and that's still pretty darn good."
Lewis' final competitive race was Aug. 26 at Berlin, where he anchored a relay team of Burrell, Donovan Bailey and Frankie Fredericks to victory.
Saturday's exhibition was Lewis' last U.S. appearance and the one that marks - officially, he says - his retirement from the sport. Although several "special events" are planned with advertising sponsor Nike, Lewis says his competitive career is over.
Lewis came to the University of Houston in 1980, a sprinter with knee problems who had lost a lot of meets in high school before hitting a winning stride by his junior year.
On Saturday, he said goodbye to a career that included nine Olympic gold medals and eight World Championship golds.
"I've always tried to persevere," he said. "You have to do what you think is right."
Despite his criticism that USA Track & Field hasn't done enough to promote athletes or fight drug abuse, he was honored Saturday by the sport's governing authority.
USA Track & Field retired a national team jersey with the symbolic number "9."
Lewis' decision to attend Houston was purely a random one. Lewis' parents, weary of ambiguity about college, pressed him one Easter to make a decision.