Each day of Trials competition, renowned American athletes are honored in conjunction with the events of the day. Here is Sunday’s honoree:
Bob Beamon@@checked@@
Bob Beamon is an American long jumper best known for his world-record effort at the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City. He was a favorite coming into the competition but blew away the field — and captured the imaginations of spectators around the world — by breaking the previous long jump world record by a massive margin (55cm, or 21.75in.). For comparison’s sake, the record had been broken 13 times since 1901, with an average increase of 6cm (2.5in.) and the largest being 15cm (6 in.). Beamon sailed 8.90 m (29 ft. 2½ in.) on the winning jump.
Renowned sports journalist Dick Schaap@@checked@@ wrote a book about the leap entitled The Perfect Jump. Beamon enjoyed several environmental advantages, including high altitude, when performing the feat. Regardless, his gold-medal effort remains one of the most storied feats in American Olympic history. The world record stood for almost 23 years until it was broken by Mike Powell in 1991.