A Long Jump Record For the Ages!

The long jump record is one of the greatest accomplishments of the Olympic games.

Since the emergence of the modern games in 1896 there have been many new records set in the long jump.

Bob Beamon

One of the most remarkable records to be broken took place in 1968. A 22 year old American competing during the 1968 games in Mexico City shattered a barrier that no one thought possible.

The barrier he shattered was...

surpassing 29 feet!

This young jumpers name was Bob Beamon. Beamon jumped 8.90 meters or 29 feet 2 1/2 inches.

The reason that this was so remarkable was because up to this point no one had even jumped further than 28 feet. He broke the previous long jump record by staggering 21 and 3/4 inches (53 centimeters).

But, as all records are created, they are also meant to be broken...

eventually!

Beamon's world record long jump stood for an incredible 22 years before another athlete would come along to snatch it away.

Mike Powell

During the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, a 27 year old American by the name of Mike Powell would be the one to make track and field history.

He made history by jumping 8.95 meters, or 29 feet 4 1/2 inches.

This competition in Tokyo is arguably known as the greatest long jump competition ever.

The reason being is that two of the greatest long jumpers ever were battling it out. Powell being one, and the other was Carl Lewis.

The amazing thing about this competition was not only did Powell have to jump further than Lewis to win, but he had to set a new long jump record to do it.

That was going to be tough because until this meet, Lewis had won 65 consecutive long jump competitions. If it wasn't for the 8.95 meter world record jump by Mike Powell, Lewis would have won his 66th consecutive competition.

This event in the '91 championships was so incredible that it ended up having 5 of the 7 longest jumps ever recorded. The top three jumps were all 29 feet or over.

The top 3 legal jumps were...

1. 8.95m (29' 4 1/2") Mike Powell


2. 8.87m (29' 1 3/4") Carl Lewis


3. 8.84m (29' 0") Carl Lewis

The jumps that took place during this competition were so immense, that nothing has ever come close to matching it. This leaves Powell's jump standing alone as the furthest distance ever legally recorded.

Obviously the long jump record set by Powell is a great one, but the reason it happened was because he understood the most important element of the event. To see what that is, click here.

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