Long Jump, Men

Going into 1968 the big three were Ralph Boston, 1960 gold medalist; Lynn Davies, 1964 gold medalist and 1966 European and Commonwealth champion; and Igor Ter-Ovanesyan, bronze medalist in 1960-64 and, with Boston, the current world record holder. But during the 1968 season a new talent had arisen, Bob Beamon, who was undefeated in pre-Olympic competition. The thin air of Ciudad de México was expected to produce big jumps, and it did, but nobody was prepared for what was to come. In the qualifying Boston set an Olympic record with 8.27 (27-1¾).

The fourth jumper in the final was Beamon, and he had no marks to aim at as the first three jumpers had fouled. Beamon tore down the runway, hit the takeoff board perfectly, and took off, reaching a huge height. He came down hard and bounded out of the pit. Watching, Boston commented to Davis, “That’s over 28 feet,” but Davies felt that was not possible. Boston was actually conservative. The jump was over 29 feet – 29-2½ or 8.90, to be exact. The world record, held by Boston and Ter-O was 8.35, or 27-4¾; thus, Beamon had surpassed it by almost two feet. It was the largest single improvement in a track & field world record ever, and stunning athletic feats since that date are often labeled “Beamonesque.” The mark was so spectacular that a book was written about this single athletic moment, called The Perfect Jump, written by Dick Schaap in collaboration with Beamon.

The competition was over. Davies told Boston, “We can’t go on. We’d look silly.” Ter-Ovanesyan commented to Davies, “Compared to this jump, we are children.” After the jump, Beamon was not really sure what he had accomplished, not understanding the metric measurement. But when he was told it was 29-2½, he collapsed to his knees and became dizzy, having to be helped up by Boston and teammate Charlie Mays.

Eventually the long jump went on. Boston completed his medal set by winning a bronze. The great trivia question is the identity of the silver medalist – Klaus Beer of East Germany. Beamon took one more jump, 8.04 (26-4½), then passed his final four rounds, as they were not necessary. Lynn Davies tied for eighth after three jumps, and was mistakenly not advanced to the final three rounds of jumps. When officials realized what had happened, they offered him three more jumps. He refused, shattered by what he had seen.

There have been naysayers since. The wind reading was 2.0 metres per second, the exact limit of legal, and some observers think the jump may have been wind-aided, but no protests to its legality as a record were ever made. The mark stood up for 23 years, finally bettered in 1991 by Mike Powell, who jumped 8.95 (29-4½) to win the 1991 World Championships. As of 2022, Beamon’s mark is still the second longest legal jump ever, and still the Olympic record, probably for the foreseeable future as well. Beamon never jumped anywhere near as well again. He never had to.