Former NCAA track champion, Carl Lewis' godson Cameron Burrell dies at 26
Former NCAA track champion and son of two Olympic gold medalists Cameron Burrell has died at 26 years old.
Burrell was the 2018 NCAA 100-meter champion for the University of Houston. He anchored Houston's 4x100 relay team that also won an NCAA championship that year. The university announced his death on Tuesday with a statement from his father Leroy Burrell.
"My family is extremely saddened with the loss of our son, Cameron, last night," the statement reads. "We are going through profound sorrow and ask that all of our friends, extended University of Houston family and the track and field community in the U.S. and abroad allow us to gather with our closest family and friends. We are profoundly grief stricken, and thank everyone for the outpouring of prayers and support. We will forward more information when it is available."
The cause of death was not revealed.
Son of Olympic gold medalists, godson of Carl Lewis
Burrell's parents Leroy and Michelle Finn-Burrell both won gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Games. Leroy won gold as part of the 4x100 team alongside Michael Marsh, Dennis Mitchell and Carl Lewis that set a world record time of 37.40 seconds. Michelle won a gold medal in the women's 4x100 relay that summer.
Leroy ran at Houston and has been the team's track coach for 23 years. Lewis, who also ran at Houston, was Burrell's godfather and is an assistant on Leroy's staff.
Burrell broke his father's school record in the 100 meters by .01 seconds with a time of 9.93 in 2017. He was a three-time All-American at 60 and 100 meters and was twice named All-American as a member of the 4x100 relay team.
He won gold as a member of the U.S. 4x100 relay team at the World Junior Championships in 2012. Six years later, he won gold for Team USA running anchor in the 4x100 at the 2018 Athletics World Cup. He won silver in the same event at the 2019 World Relays.
In addition to his parents, Burrell is survived by his brothers, Joshua and Jaden Burrell.
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