Carl Lewis ranked number one, while Lewis slipped to number three, having lost more races than he won. He even seemed vulnerable in the long jump, an event he did not lose in 1986, or the year before, though he competed sparingly. Lewis ended up ranked second behind Soviet Robert Emmiyan, who had the longest legal jump of the year at . At the 1987 World Championships in Athletics in Rome, Lewis skipped the 200 m to focus on his strongest event, the long jump, and made sure to take all his attempts. This was not to answer critics from the 1984
4 × 100 metres relay at the World Championships in Athletics of medals in the event at six (although only one of them gold). Nesta Carter and Carl Lewis are the only other athletes to have won three gold medals in the relay event. The United States has twice been stripped of the gold medal due to doping by athletes on the national team, having lost both men's and women's titles in 2001. The men's event was affected by doping in its debut tournament in 1983, with Ben Johnson running for Canada, although the team did not progress beyond the first round. Johnson's drug use was only self-admitted during this period