Editing Carl Lewis (section)

===1983 and the inaugural World Championships===
The [[International Association of Athletics Federations]] (IAAF), the governing body of track and field, organized the first [[IAAF World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]] in 1983. Lewis' chief rival in the long jump was predicted to be the man who last beat him: Larry Myricks. But though Myricks had joined Lewis in surpassing {{T&Fcalc2|28|0}} the year before, he failed to qualify for the American team, and Lewis won at Helsinki with relative ease. His winning leap of {{T&Fcalc|8.55}} defeated silver medalist Jason Grimes by {{T&Fcalc|0.26}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=1st IAAF World Championships in Athletics > Long Jump – men > Final |url=http://www.iaaf.org/results/iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics/1983/1st-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-3/men/long-jump/final/result |publisher=IAAF |access-date=January 15, 2015}}</ref>

He also won the 100&nbsp;m with relative ease. There, [[Calvin Smith]] who had earlier that year set a new world record in the 100&nbsp;m at altitude with a 9.93&nbsp;s performance, was soundly beaten by Lewis 10.07&nbsp;s to 10.21&nbsp;s.<ref>{{cite web |title=100 Metres Men: 1st IAAF World Championships in Athletics |url=https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/1st-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-3/results/men/100-metres/final/result |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130702074212/http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/1st-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-3/results/men/100-metres/final/result |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 2, 2013 |publisher=IAAF |access-date=July 15, 2017}}</ref> Smith won the 200&nbsp;m title,<ref>{{cite web |title=200 Metres Men: 1st IAAF World Championships in Athletics |url=https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/1st-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-3/results/men/200-metres/final/result |publisher=IAAF |access-date=July 15, 2017 |archive-date=March 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324024100/http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/1st-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-3/results/men/200-metres/final/result |url-status=dead}}</ref> an event which Lewis had not entered, but even there he was partly in Lewis' shadow as Lewis had set an American record in that event earlier that year. He won the 200&nbsp;m on June 19 at the TAC/Mobil Championships in 19.75 s, the second-fastest time in history and the low-altitude record, only 0.03&nbsp;s behind [[Pietro Mennea]]'s 1979 mark. Observers here noted that Lewis probably could have broken the world record if he did not ease off in the final meters to raise his arms in celebration.<ref name="Field News' 1983, p.4, 9">''Track and Field News'' August 1983, vol. 36, #7, p.4, 9</ref><ref>{{YouTube|OQ4CNxujGO4|See the end of the race in this video}}</ref> Finally, Lewis ran the [[anchor leg|anchor]] in the 4 × 100&nbsp;m relay, winning in 37.86&nbsp;s, a new world record and the first in Lewis' career.<ref>{{cite web |title=4x100 Metres Relay Men: 1st IAAF World Championships in Athletics |url=https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/1st-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-3/results/men/4x100-metres-relay/final/result |publisher=IAAF |access-date=July 15, 2017 |archive-date=August 29, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829201238/https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/1st-iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics-3/results/men/4x100-metres-relay/final/result |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Lewis' year-best performances in the 100&nbsp;m and long jump were not at the World Championships, but at other meets. He became the first person to run a sub-10 second 100&nbsp;m at low-altitude with a 9.97&nbsp;s in [[Modesto, California|Modesto]] on May 14.<ref>''Track and Field News'', June 1983, vol. 36 #5, p. 6,7</ref><ref>''Track and Field News'', January 1984, vol. 36 #12, p. 22</ref> His gold at the World Championships and his other fast times earned him the number one ranking in the world that year, despite Calvin Smith's world record. At the TAC Championships on June 19, he set a new low-altitude record in the long jump, {{T&Fcalc|8.79}}<ref name="Field News' 1983, p.4, 9"/> and earned the world number one ranking in that event.<ref>''Track and Field News'', January 1984, vol. 36 #12, p. 48</ref> ''Track and Field News'' ranked him number two in the 200&nbsp;m, despite his low-altitude record of 19.75&nbsp;s, behind Smith, who had won gold at Helsinki.<ref name="200mranking">{{cite web |url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/02-m200rank.pdf |title=World Rankings — Men's 200 |work=trackandfieldnews.com |access-date=June 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6ZQLm1YuH?url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/Rankings/02-m200rank.pdf |archive-date=June 20, 2015 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Lewis was again named Athlete of the Year by the magazine.<ref name="AOTY">{{cite web |url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/tfn_pdfs/mworldaoys.pdf |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6ZQLm1NtP?url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/images/stories/tfn_pdfs/mworldaoys.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 20, 2015 |title=T&FN's WORLD MEN'S ATHLETES OF THE YEAR |access-date=June 10, 2015}}</ref>