Carl Lewis time of 38.61 s. Lewis received one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the athletes precluded from competing in the 1980 Olympics. At year's end, Lewis was ranked 6th in the world in the long jump and 7th in the 100 m. At the start of 1981, Lewis' best legal long jump was his high school record from 1979. On June 20, Lewis improved his personal best by almost half a meter by leaping at the TAC Championships while still a teenager. While marks set at the thinner air of high altitude are eligible for world records, Lewis
Carl Lewis he failed to qualify for the American team, and Lewis won at Helsinki with relative ease. His winning leap of defeated silver medalist Jason Grimes by . He also won the 100 m with relative ease. There, Calvin Smith who had earlier that year set a new world record in the 100 m at altitude with a 9.93 s performance, was soundly beaten by Lewis 10.07 s to 10.21 s. Smith won the 200 m title, an event which Lewis had not entered, but even there he was partly in Lewis' shadow as Lewis had set an American record in