With the Olympics around the corner, a new set of athletes will be gearing up to try and achieve glory for their country in Paris.
Years of preparation will be tested as athletes will try their best to break records. However, there are still a few records that have not been broken for a long time. With the Games around the corner, we look at some of the longest-standing Olympic records that could be challenged at Paris 2024.
Bob Beamon
One of the most famous and the longest-standing Olympic records is USA’s Bob Beamon’s men’s long jump record, set at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Beamon comfortably broke the world record by jumping 8.90m on October 18, 1968, and at the time had created both a world record and an Olympic record. While his world record was later broken by Mike Powell, Beamon’s jump remains an Olympic record even 56 years later.
Bob Beamon competes in the men’s long jump event at the Mexico Olympic Games on October 18, 1968. | Photo Credit: AFP
Nadezhda Olizarenko
Nadezhda Olizarenko, representing the Soviet Union, took the record for the women’s 800m at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, setting a time of 1:54.9. Like Beamon, her effort was both a world record and an Olympic record at the time, and although the world record now lies with Jarmila Kratochvílová, who broke it in 1983, Olizarenko still holds the Olympic record 44 years after she set it.
The Soviet runner Nadezhda Olizarenko raises her arms after crosssing the finish line of the 800m at the 1980 Summer Olympics. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES
Ilona Slupianek
The 1980 Moscow Olympics was an Olympics for breaking records. In the same year that Olizarenko won her gold medal, Ilona Slupaniek won gold for East Germany in the shot put event, and in the process secured the Olympic record for the event as well. It was also a world record at the time, although the record now lies with Natalya Lisovskaya.
Ilona Slupianek seen in action. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Jackie Joyner-Kersee had a remarkable time at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, setting two Olympic records over five days. First, on September 24, she broke the world record for the heptathlon on her way to gold with a score of 7,291 points. Five days later, she broke the Olympic record for long jump by jumping 7.40m to secure a second gold medal in Seoul. Both of her records stand even today, 36 years after they were initially set.
Jackie Kersee waves to the crowd after winning the gold medal with a world record in the women’s heptathlon at the Olympic Games 1988. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES
Sergei Litvinov
Having won silver in the hammer throw at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and missed the 1984 Olympics due to a boycott by the Eastern bloc, Sergei Litvinov would have been desperate to go for gold at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Going for gold is exactly what he did, as, on September 26, 1988 (two days after Joyner-Kersee), he registered an Olympic record effort to secure his maiden gold medal. His throw of 84.80m remains the Olympic record today, 36 years post the event.
Hammer thrower Sergei Litvinov in action. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES
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