Bob Beamon's Long Jump at 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympics
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Beamon, from Jamaica, New York, set a world record for the long jump at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City with a jump of 8.90 m (29 ft. 2-1/2 in.). His world record stood for 23 years, and was named by Sports Illustrated magazine as one of the five greatest sports moments of the 20th century.
So astonishing was this jump that when the announcer called out the distance, Beamon himself collapsed to his knees, placed his hands over his face, and had to be helped to his feet. One journalist called Beamon "the man who saw lightning." Sports journalist Dick Schaap wrote a book about the leap, called "The Perfect Jump."
Prior to Beamon’s jump, the world record had been broken thirteen times since 1901, with an average increase of 0.06 m (2½ in.) and the largest increase being 0.15 m (6 in.). Beamon’s gold medal mark bettered the existing record by 0.55 m (21-3/4 in.) as he became the first person to reach both 28 and 29 feet.
The defending Olympic champion, Lynn Davies of Wales, told Beamon, "You have destroyed this event", and in track and field jargon, a new adjective - Beamonesque - came into use to describe spectacular feats. Reportedly, the then-available optical facilities were not equipped to measure such distance, and therefore manual measuring had to be adopted. Beamon’s record was broken in 1991 when Mike Powell jumped 8.95 m (29 ft. 4-3/8 in.) at the World Championships in Tokyo.
While this jump has been lauded by sports fans worldwide, there were significant environmental factors that contributed to this ‘Beamonesque’ mark.[1] The primary factor was the altitude of Mexico City – 7400 feet. Altitude is of great benefit to events such as the long jump, and never before or since has such an important competition ever been held anywhere near this altitude. Many sprint and jump world records were broken at the 1968 Olympics because of this. Additionally, there was the maximum allowable (for record purposes) 2 meters per second aiding wind on his jump. Add to that, immediately after Beamon’s jump a major rainstorm came down, making it much harder for his competitors to try and match his feat. A perfect confluence of environmental factors to help make this history’s most stunning long jump.
That Beamon surpassed himself can be seen by noting that his next best jump in his career measured 8.33 m (27 ft. 4 in.), and after the gold medal he never again jumped over 8.22 m (26 ft. 11¾ in.). His jump is still the Olympic record.
