August 5, 1996

Carl Lewis' third attempt in the long jump, of 27' 10 3/4" inches, was his best in four years, and no other competitor was able to overtake him for the gold. Rick Reilly wrote: "Carl Lewis beat age, gravity, history, logic and the world on Monday night at a rocking Olympic Stadium in Atlanta to win the gold medal in the long jump, becoming the only track and field athlete besides discus thrower Al Oerter to win four gold medals in a single event. It was his fourth and last Olympics, his ninth gold, his 10th medal and quite possibly his most impossible moment in an impossibly brilliant career."

Photographs by Walter Iooss Jr., Peter Read Miller