Demon great and 2000 USA Olympian LaMark Carter of Shreveport is watching the 2008 Olympics from a bed on the ninth floor of the LSU Medical Center in his hometown after suffering extensive injuries in a nasty auto accident on Friday.
Northwestern track coach Leon Johnson had a telephone conversation with Carter today and said he was "lucky to be alive" after the wreck. Carter said rescue crews had to cut him out of the wreckage and among his injuries are fractures in his hip and shoulder.
Carter, a four-time All-American for the Demons from 1991-93, competed in the triple jump at the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000 and retired from competitive track and field after the 2004 Olympic Trials.
He expects to be in the hospital for 5-6 weeks. You can send a card to him by using this address: LaMark Carter, LSU Medical Center, 1501 Kings Highway, Shreveport, LA 71130.
Carter, a Shreveport-Captain Shreve product, ranked among the world's best triple jumpers for more than a decade following his college career. He is a seven-time USA champion in the triple jump (1998, 1999, 2001 outdoors, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2001 indoors).
Carter was fourth in the 1996 Olympic Trials, second in the 2000 Trials and eighth in the 2004 Trials (also 14th in 1992). He finished as high as second in World Championship competition (1999 World Indoors silver medalist) and was as high as fifth outdoors in World Cup competition in an 11-year pro track career.
Carter placed eighth or better in the triple jump at USA Championships from 1993-2004, except for 2002-03 while recovering from a knee injury. He was ranked sixth in the world in 1998 and eighth in 1999. Carter had personal bests of 57-2 3/4 in the triple jump in 1998 and 26-2 1/4 in the long jump in 1996.
A four-time NCAA Division I All-American for Northwestern, he won the 1993 SLC Indoor and Outdoor Field Performer of the Year awards. He was a three-time SLC Outdoor champion in the triple jump, setting the school record (that still stands) with a 55-2 3/4 mark to win the 1993 title. Carter won the 1993 SLC Indoor High Point Award with 28 of the Demons' 101 points, winning the triple jump and 55m dash and finishing second in the long jump to lead NSU to its first SLC track title.
Outdoors that season, he gave up his redshirt status at the SLC Championships and led the Demons to their first SLC Outdoor crown by winning the TJ, anchoring the winning 4x100 relay and finishing second in the long jump, all in NCAA qualifying performances. He was fourth in the 1993 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the triple jump (55-0 3/4), 10th in the long jump; he was third in the triple jump at the 1993 NCAA Indoors, and eighth in the triple jump at the 1992 and 1991 NCAA Outdoors. In all, he won seven SLC titles (1992, 1993 Indoor TJ, 1993 Indoor 55m dash, 1991-93 Outdoor TJ, 1993 Outdoor 4x100m).
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