Houstonist's Mt. Rushmore of Sports: Carl Lewis

In 1979, Carl Lewis came to the University of Houston via New Jersey after being recruited by track and field coach Tom Tellez. From there, the two would pair up for the rest of Lewis' career which would go down as arguably the greatest ever in Olympic history.

Today, Lewis joins Earl Campbell and Craig Biggio on Houstonist's Mt. Rushmore of Sports.

While at U of H, Lewis made it known he wasn't here to just be another student-athlete, he wanted to obtain greatness. Lewis told Tellez, “I want to be a millionaire and I don’t ever want a real job.” By the end of the year, Lewis received his first world ranking by Track and Field News. He was ranked sixth in the world in the long jump and seventh in the 100-meter dash.

Also while at U of H, Lewis qualified for the 1980 Olympics, but unfortunately he couldn't compete because of President Jimmy Carter's boycott of the Moscow games because of the United State's protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.

In 1981, Lewis took out his frustration and ended up winning first place at the NCAA indoor track and field championships in the long jump and 100-meter dash. Lewis was the first ever student-athlete to win two events at the an NCAA championship.

Before leaving U of H in 1982, Lewis made a name for himself by winning six NCAA titles while becoming the fastest man in the world in the 100-meter dash. Lewis also was a recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award as the nation's top amateur athlete and he was ranked number one in the word in the 100-meter dash and the long jump.

In 1983, Lewis participated in the inaugural World Championships where he would win gold medals in the 100-meter dash, 4x100 meter relays and the long jump.

By the time the 1984 Olympics ended, Lewis would end up a household name. At the Los Angeles games, Lewis would win gold medals in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, the 4x100 meter relay and the long jump. Lewis' four gold medal performance would match Olympic great Jessie Owens for most medals won at an Olympics.

For his career, Lewis won nine Olympic gold medals from 1984-1996. In the World Championships, Lewis racked up eight gold medals and he added another gold medal in the 1987 Pan-American Games.

Lewis was named Athlete of the Year from Track and Field News from 1982-1984. In 1998, Lewis was inducted to U of H's Hall of Honor and then in 1999, Lewis was named Olympian of the Century by Sports Illustrated.

Lewis was elected to the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2001.

Photo courtesy of the University of Houston.