Bob Beamon: World-Record-Shattering Long Jump
[ 2006-11-01 10:57 ]
眾所周知，世界紀錄之間的差距總在毫厘之間。不過1968年墨西哥城奧運會上的一幕算是例外。美國男子跳遠選手鮑勃·比蒙以29.25英尺（約8.91米）的成績，將此前27.475英尺（約8.37米）的世界紀錄整整提高了約兩英尺，
直到23年之后這個紀錄才被打破。
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| Bob Beamon at the 1968 Mexico City
games. | Some sports moments simply defy all
reasonable comprehension—Mickey Mantle blasting a 565-foot home run, Secretariat
winning the 1973 Belmont Stakes by 31 lengths, and Tiger Woods winning the U.S.
Open by 15 strokes. But the feat that may top them all came on Oct. 18, 1968, at
the Olympic Games in Mexico City.
Between 1935 and 1968, the world long
jump record increased exactly eight and one-half inches. Coming into the
Olympics, the world record was 27 feet, 43/4 inches, shared by American Ralph Boston and
Soviet Igor Ter-Ovanesyan. In six seconds, that all changed.
Bob Beamon, a 22-year-old New York native, barely qualified for the Olympic
long jump finals after fouling in two of his qualifying runs. Fortunately, he
did.
The following day in the finals, Beamon took off down the runway in
the thin air of Mexico City. After exactly 19 loping strides, he hit the board
perfectly, stretched out with his legs and flew through the air like no one ever
had. And finally, he hit the sand in the pit below—29 feet,
21/2 inches later!
He leapt out of the pit, knowing he had done something special. Not only was
he the first long jumper in history to reach 28 feet. He also became the first
to reach 29 feet. He shattered the world record by an unbelievable
213/4 inches. When the distance
was given by stadium announcers, Beamon was so excited and emotionally drained
that doctors claim he suffered a "cataplectic seizure."
"Compared to this jump, we are as children," Ter-Ovanesyan said.
Some critics devalued the jump, claiming the rarified air and the wind of 2.0
meters per second was more responsible for the record. But all the other
competitors jumped in the same elements and strangely, none of them came close.
The record lasted almost 23 years until Aug. 30, 1991 when American Mike
Powell jumped 29-41/2 at the World Championships in
Tokyo.
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