A world championship-winning US sprinter who raced with Carl Lewis was shot dead near his home in Alabama

• Emmit King, who won relay gold at the 1983 World Championships, has been shot dead at the age of 62.
• He had been arguing with a neighbor when the pair drew guns and shot, local media reports.

A former US elite sprinter who raced in the same team as the legendary Carl Lewis was shot dead on Sunday near his home in Alabama

62-year-old Emmit King, who won world championship gold in 1983 and was on two Olympic teams, was one of two men killed in his hometown of Bessemer, alongside 60-year-old Willie Albert Wells.

According to regional news site Alabama Local, which cites local police, the two men knew each other and had been arguing on Sunday afternoon when both pulled out guns. Witnesses heard gunfire at around 3:40 p.m, with reports saying both men fired at each other.

Wells was pronounced dead at the scene around 20 minutes later, while King was taken to a local hospital, but died soon afterwards.

King competed in the 1983 world championships alongside Carl Lewis, and was part of the gold-medal-winning US 4 x 100 meter relay team. He also won bronze in the 100 meters behind his compatriots Lewis and Calvin Smith.

King twice qualified for the US Olympic team, travelling to compete in relay events at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, but never raced competitively at the games. The US won relay gold in Los Angeles in 1984, but King did not receive a medal as he did not compete in either the heats or the final.

Alabama Local reports the deaths of King and Wells were Bessemer's 26th and 27th due to homicide this year. The city has a population of around 27,000.