Lewis jumps into the history books

CARL LEWIS, one of the most decorated Olympians of them all, arrived at Atlanta with eight gold medals and one silver. Early this morning, Lewis secured another gold as he took an historic fourth consecutive Olympic long jump title.

Lewis's winning figures of 8.50 metres was short of his personal best. Yet nothing in his storied career will have given him more satisfaction than this victory at a stage when all the big honours appear to be out of reach.

The man who was once unbeatable in this event, stringing together 51 successes between 1981 and `91 had not beaten his American compatriot Mike Powell for four years when he came to Atlanta.

But while Powell struggled to find anything approaching the form which enabled him to beat Bob Beamon's astounding world record in Tokyo five years ago, the multiple champion again grew tall on the occasion.

At his third attempt he thundered down the approach to break the sand at 8.50 and that was sufficient to take the title. To his eternal credit, Lewis orchestrated the support from the stands for Powell as he made ready for his last jump, but sadly in a season which has gone disastrously wrong for him Powell injured himself and had to be helped out of the pit.

Jose Marie Perec's career reached another magnificent high point when she resisted the challenge of Australia's Cathy Freeman in what was by some way the finest 400 metres race in the history of women's athletics.

Perec's time of 48.26 seconds, an Olympic record, was the fastest in the world since 1986 and the sixth best of all time. But the real testimony to the quality of the final was that the top six finishers all broke 50 seconds, the first time this has been achieved.

That Perec should have the honour of leading them home was no more than fitting for, with the exception of Olga Bryzgina, nobody has dominated the event to a greater degree since the departure of the East German Marita Koch.

On the strength of some fine performances this season, Freeman was entitled to believe that if she got it right on the night she could beat the champion. Gambling on running conservatively over the first 200, she was already a metre down on the stagger at halfway but then inevitably, came the counter charge.

Stride by stride the gap closed until she was level, even marginally in front running the last bend. Perec was not in the mood for surrender, however, and she moved up an extra gear.

Freeman, brave to a fault, had nothing more to give and for the last 40 metres or so, she watched as Perec stretched out to win going away. There was a major upset in the final of the women's 800m in which the unconsidered Russian Svetlana Masterkova upstaged all the bigger name athletes to win in 1:57.73.

Masterkova had the conviction and the self belief to go for home from a long way out and with Maria Mutola trapped in the pack, it proved a winning ploy.

Allen Johnson added the Olympic 110 metres champion to the world title he won in Gothenburg with a remarkable exhibition of power and pace in a final in which he knocked no fewer than eight of the 10 obstacles.