A revealing look at the underbelly
of international track and field.
Co-written with Jeffrey Marx, Inside Track is the autobiography of Olympic champion Carl Lewis, one of the premier athletes of the 20th century. He dominated track and field in the years leading up to the 1990 publication of this book, winning a total of six gold medals in the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. But Lewis made plenty of news off the track, too, and Inside Track is the most outspoken book ever written about his sport.
Lewis writes in great detail about under-the-table money routinely paid to so-called "amateur" athletes and about the illegal use of steroids. He shares his inner thoughts and behind-the-scenes developments related to one of the most talked-about Olympic races in history, the 1988 100-meter dash, after which his rival, Ben Johnson, tested positive for steroids and was stripped of the gold medal.
Lewis also offers a rare look into his personal life. He describes a prophetic childhood meeting with the legendary Jesse Owens. Lewis shares the moving story of his father's death. And he discusses his own spirituality, which involves both his commitment to a group called Lay Witnesses for Christ and his personal relationship with an Indian guru named Sri Chinmoy.
