Competitive athletics is replete with remarkable deeds, but few touch the fringes of fantasy. One such moment of lasting memory surfaced in the rarefied atmosphere of Mexico. On October 18, 1968, Robert (Bob) Beamon sailed into immortality with a long jump that stunned everyone. There was a touch of disbelief in the jump that measured a whopping 8.90 metres (29ft. 2 ½in).
That this world record stood the test of time for 23 years is a testimony to the heroic effort that grey afternoon. True, Bob was the favourite even though there was speculation that the defending champion, Lynn Davies of Britain, would go all out. This was largely because of the fact that the 23-year-old New Yorker barely made it to the squad from the Olympic qualifiers. But Beamon, with one spectacular jump that featured 19 loping strides, took him to the edge of the sand pit, beating even the optical equipment. The officials were forced to bring in the tape to measure the distance he had cleared.
Even assuming that the atmosphere in Mexico largely helped Beamon to achieve something as extraordinary as the leap of the century, the fact that he had developed a halo around him prior to the Olympics was clear. He was the man of the moment for the US after winning 22 of the 23 jumps, one of which was his career-best effort of 8.33m.
Even as the cynics began pointing out to the rarefied atmosphere and the beneficial wind within the allowed 2 metres per second, several others were struck by the magnitude of the performance. One journalist termed Beamon as “the man who saw lightning.”
The magazine, Sports Illustrated, rated Beamon’s effort as one of the five greatest moments of the 20th century.
Till 1991 Beamon’s mind-boggling performance was beyond the reach of any athlete, including the incomparable Carl Lewis. But there came another US stalwart, Mike Powell, who jumped 9.95 metres at the World Championship in Tokyo in 1971.
However, Beamon’s great leap continues to be the Olympic record. And what a monumental effort it was.
S. Thyagarajan
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