The moment long jumper Bob Beamon shattered the world record at the Mexico City Olympics 40 years ago he knew his athletics career was essentially over. Beamon soared 29 feet, 2 1/2 inches (8.90 meters) to annihilate the previous mark by nearly two feet in arguably the greatest Olympic effort of all time. He never again cleared 27 feet. “You have to be motivated,” the 61-year-old Beamon said. “You have to understand where are your goals coming from. “I was standing up on the podium thinking, ‘What am I going to do now?' I was on another plateau at the time.” From 1935 until 1968, the long jump record had advanced just 8 1/2 inches. Under overcast skies in Mexico City, Beamon bettered the previous mark by an incredible 21 3/4 inches. Beamon's record stood for 23 years until fellow American Mike Powell jumped 29 feet, 4 1/2 inches (8.95 meters). Beamon's leap remains the second-best legal jump ever. “One of the things that is interesting about the jump that I made in ‘68 is that my Olympic record still stands,” he said. “That's 40 years of incredible athletes, Carl Lewis, and all the greats have still not surpassed it.” When Beamon landed in the pit, the optical measuring device used at the Mexico Games was unable to pick up such a long jump. “The scope was not anywhere in sight of where the jump had landed,” he recalled. “They had to go out of the stadium and get a measuring tape. It took over 30 minutes.” Olympic officials never told Beamon why they were taking so long. “I had no idea,” he said. “Instead of the red flags going up, we had a white flag. I thought maybe I broke the record by maybe a couple of inches and they want to make sure that the record is well under the limit in terms of the wind. “When they plastered the 8.9 meters up there I still didn't have any idea. I thought they were talking about somebody in the shot put or discus. “Once it was translated from meters to feet, I was flabbergasted. I just lost it.” Beamon fell to his knees, held his face in his hands and wept in one of the Games' most memorable moments. Ironically, Beamon thought his record would last minutes not decades. “I thought my teammates, the Russian Igor Ter-Ovanesyan or (Britain's) Lynn Davies were all going to come after me and they were going to break my record,” he said. “I was just happy that I had the opportunity to break the record. I never thought about it hanging on that long. I thought it would be broken by the next athlete in the competition.” Beamon's critics say the jump was the result of the high altitude of Mexico City and the maximum allowable wind for world records. Still, it is difficult to comprehend at a time when no one had jumped 28 feet before, Beamon exceeded 29 feet. “It's always been a mystery to people,” Beamon said. “And to journalists. And to those that study anatomy of physiology. How did it happen? Why did it happen? It's good conversation. “The point is I jumped the distance. And I did it at the right place at the right time, at the Olympic Games.” Beamon, who was diagnosed with diabetes about 2 1/2 years ago and is a spokesman for pharmacy benefits manager Medco, paused for a moment to think about his masterstroke. “There are some things you really can't explain,” he said. - Reuters __
