He was once “the world’s fastest human.” Now Democrats in southern New Jersey hope he might consent to run for office.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, former Olympic sprint champion Carl Lewis is being recruited to run for a state Senate seat, which is now held by Republican Dawn Marie Addiego. The deadline for filing for this election is the close of business Monday, so presumably folks are hoping he will step up his decision-making process.
The 49-year-old Lewis lives in Medford, N.J. He grew up in nearby Willingboro where he launched a track-and-field career that saw him win four gold medals in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, matching Jesse Owens’s accomplishments in the 1936 Games event-for-event. He captured two more golds and a silver in 1988, two golds in 1992 and a final gold in 1996.
It’s impossible not to note that his community is represented in Congress by a former athlete of a much different sort — former Philadelphia Eagle Jon Runyan, a distinguished offensive tackle whose massive frame didn’t allow him to do much sprinting. Runyan, a Republican, won the seat from the late John Adler in November.
The Inquirer said Lewis declined to comment on the reports.
