Carl Lewis to emerge as a talent in the sprints. Comparisons were beginning to be made with Jesse Owens, who dominated sprint and long jump events in the 1930s. Lewis qualified for the American team for the 1980 Olympics in the long jump and as a member of the 4 × 100 m relay team. The Olympic boycott precluded Lewis from competing in Moscow; he instead participated in the Liberty Bell Classic in July 1980, which was an alternate meet for boycotting nations. He jumped for a bronze medal, and the American 4 × 100 m relay team won gold with a
Athletics in Jamaica since Carl Lewis in 1984, and the first to do so in world record times. He also became the second Jamaican to win two gold medals at a single Olympic Games, after George Rhoden in 1952. The same day, Melaine Walker won the women's 400 m hurdles event in a new Olympic Record time of 52.64 seconds, breaking the old mark set in 1996 by Deon Hemmings. On 21 August, Jamaica completed a clean-sweep of all the individual sprints (100 and 200 m), and confirmed the nation's dominance when Veronica Campbell-Brown successfully defended her Olympic 200 m title winning the