Carl Lewis the latter race, he finished fourth at the Olympic trials behind rising star Michael Johnson who set a personal best of 19.79 s. It was the first time the two had ever met on the track. Lewis did, however, qualify for the long jump, finishing second behind Powell, and was eligible for the 4 × 100 m relay team. At the Games in Barcelona, Lewis jumped in the first round of the long jump, beating Powell who did a final-round . In the 4 × 100 m relay, Lewis anchored another world record, in 37.40 s, a time which stood
1928 United States Olympic Trials (track and field) (47.0) two months earlier, was surprisingly eliminated as he only placed fifth; Spencer and the sixth finalist, Fred Alderman, were named to the Olympic 4 × 400 meter relay team. The other two Olympic relay runners were decided by an extra race for those eliminated in the semi-finals, won by George Baird ahead of John Lewis; however, Lewis was replaced with Barbuti after the latter won an Olympic gold in the individual event. The 400 meter hurdles final was run before the storm arrived; Morgan Taylor, the 1924 Olympic champion, set a new world record (52.0) but still only narrowly