Steve Lewis (sprinter)

This article is about the American 400m runner. For the British pole vaulter, see Steven Lewis.

Steve Lewis

Personal information
Nationality	American
Born	(1969-05-16) May 16, 1969 Los Angeles
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg)
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Track
Event	400 metres
College team	UCLA Bruins
Club	Santa Monica Track Club
Medal record Men's athletics Representing the United States Olympic Games 1988 Seoul 400 metres 1988 Seoul 4 × 400 metres relay 1992 Barcelona 4 × 400 metres relay 1992 Barcelona 400 metres

Steven Earl Lewis (born May 16, 1969) is a former American track and field athlete, winner of three gold medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics and 1992 Summer Olympics.

Born in Los Angeles, Steve Lewis took up track at with the Los Angeles Jets youth track club under the direction of Ronald Moore and later went to Banning High School. He transferred to American High School in Fremont, California, following his sophomore year, where he graduated in 1987. While at American he competed in track and field and still holds the Mission Valley Athletic League record in the 400 meters. He won the CIF California State Meet in 1986 and 1987. He would go on to attend UCLA. As a freshman at UCLA, 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.

Lewis had not been a total unknown prior to 1988, having set a personal best of 45.76 at the 1987 USA national junior championships, but he caught many unawares when he won his quarter-final at the USA 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. 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 his UCLA teammate, Danny Everett.

In the Olympic Games at Seoul, Reynolds was the clear favorite 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 USA 4 × 400 m relay team which equalled the world record of 2:56.16 that had stood since the 1968 Olympics.

By the end of 1988, Lewis had run what still rank as 7 of the top ten junior 400 metre races of all time.

In 1990, he won NCAA Championships in the 400 m and went on to win the US 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 (2:55.74) that Lewis had previously helped tie in the 1988 Olympic Games.

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 UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2019, he was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.

Personal bests

As of May 26, 2024

As of August 2024, his time of 43.87 for 400 metres is still the track record for Seoul.

Event	Time (seconds)	Place	Date
100 meters	10.41 (+0.5 m/s)	Irvine	April 24, 1992
200 meters	20.58	San Jose	May 30, 1992
300 meters	31.82	Gateshead	July 17, 1992
400 meters	43.87	Seoul	September 28, 1988

External links

• Steve Lewis at World Athletics
• Fremont's Lewis stuns fast 400 field