Carl Lewis celebrating his 60th Birthday still holding a World Record

Hall of Famer and nine-time gold medalist Carl Lewis turns six decades old still holding the world indoor long jump record.

January 27, 1984. The 77th Millrose Games in New York City.

The week did not start well for 22-year-old University of Houston senior Carl Lewis who had been battling a cold he could not shake. His first five long jumps of the night were less than memorable. There was one more more to go.

Perhaps it was the 18,210 fans packed inside Madison Square Garden that Friday night that helped propel Lewis to a record he still holds today … 13,669 days later and counting.

On his final attempt, Lewis jumped a still world-indoor-long-jump-best 28 feet 10 1/4 inches that stands to this day.

“It’s a testament to how hard the event is in a time when we want to specialize in events that are not as challenging,” Lewis told FanSided. “We used to do multiple events and multiple things but now we are specializing young and in a lot of cases whats the easier choice.”

Becoming the world record holder was not a surprise to Lewis who had set the goal five years prior. “At 17, that was my goal to break Bob Beamon’s record,” Lewis remembered. “I wanted Bob Beamon, I wanted to jump 29 feet.”

Beamon held the world outdoor long record from 1968 to 1991 until Mike Powell leaped a still outdoor record 29 feet 4 1/4 inches. Lewis and Powell have been riding together at the top of the long jump for nearly 70 years combined.

Lewis’s career is one of the most celebrated in track and field history. He memorably won four gold medals later that 1984 summer at the Olympics held in Los Angeles. He was well on his way to becoming a 9-time gold medalist culminating at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

“The reality is that I have to thank the ridiculous amount of support that I had and I say that because it’s unfair how much support I had in my career whether it was my family, my friends, my coach,” Lewis said.

Lewis wants to give back that support and has been doing so as a full-time assistant coach at his alma mater the University of Houston. He was at the Olympic trials this past weekend and helped Houston student-athlete Shaun Maswanganyi make the South African roster for the Tokyo Olympics.

Sounds like a great birthday present for a now 60-year-old Hall of Famer and still world record holder who continues to make an impact.

Carl Lewis is partnering with a new Silk Team Protein initiative for HBCU track and field teams. Silk Soymilk will provide five HBCU track and field programs with $10,000 donations (a total of $50,000) to go toward team necessities like uniforms, equipment and transportation.