Bob Beamon is an American athlete. The 1968 Olympics in Mexico, a phenomenal leap

Bob Beamon, whose biography is presented in the article, is the famous American jumper in length. At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, he accomplished a real miracle. Bob set a world record by jumping on 8 m 90 cm, beating the previous result by about half a meter. This record stayed very long - 23 years. The leap that Bob has done is one of the greatest achievements in the history of world sports.

Bemon still leads an active life today. He is an abstract artist, patron, businessman, and also a co-author of an autobiographical book. Do you want to know more about it? Then read the article.

Origin and childhood of Bob

Bob Beamon was born in New York on August 29, 1946. He was born in Queens, a poor black district. The future record holder was orphaned early. His father passed away when Bob was only 3 months old. His mother got married a second time. When Bemon was a year and 2 months old, she died of tuberculosis. Since the boy's stepfather was in prison, Bessie Brown, a grandmother from the mother's side, took him up.

Bob's childhood passed on the streets of New York among violence, drugs and street gangs. When Bemon grew up a little, he, like many of his friends who lived next door, found himself in a school for hard-to-educate children. The boy was not very diligent. One day during a school fight, an incident occurred that affected his future fate: Bob accidentally hit his teacher. For this he was expelled from school. Bemon was placed in a colony for juvenile offenders, where he was to serve his sentence.

Teaching in an alternative school

At the age of 14, Bob was released from the colony. He was enrolled in an alternative school in New York, where juvenile offenders were trained. Bemon, remembering that time, admitted that at the age of 13 he could not write or read. The school where he studied, made great demands on students and was famous for discipline. Therefore, in the first months, Bob was very difficult. However, gradually a former member of the New York street gang began to forget his past. He was greatly helped in this by Larry Ellis, one of the teachers who trained the basketball team of the alternative school. Larry became a father and mother to Bob. He gave the boy the opportunity to believe in himself.

Sportsmanship

The teenager has seriously taken a great interest in sports. Later he recalled decorating his school with red, blue and white flowers with his friends to meet with Olympic athletes: Donn de Voron, Ralph Boston, and others. This event changed Bob's whole future life, making him think about his future. Bemon began to study more diligently, and in his spare time he went in for sports.

A physically strong and very tall guy gave hopes. Professional basketball teams of various ranks offered Bob Beamon contracts several times. However, he constantly refused, because he did not want to make money with sports. Beamon decided to continue his studies. His basketball soon ceased to interest him: the young man was fascinated by the world of athletics. Bob started jumping long. The young man first jumped no better than others, but he stubbornly sharpened the technique, achieving high results.

Speech for the university team, the US record

Gradually Bob became one of the best pupils of his school. He no longer resembled a difficult teenager. Bemon graduated with honors from high school. However, his grandmother became seriously ill, so he moved closer to home to take care of Bessie Brown. After her death, Boba was taken to an athletics team representing El Paso University, located in Texas. Beamon stood up for this university in competitions. In 1965, Bob scored a triple jump, setting a US record.

Scandal. Beanon remains without a coach

Beamon was involved in the scandal for 4 months before the qualifying for the United States. After that, he had to leave the university team. The fact is that Bob did not want to compete with the team representing the University of Brigham Young. Beamon thus protested against the racial policies pursued by the Mormons. A promising young sportsman as a result of this scandal was left without a coach. The world of athletics seemed to be closed to him. But Ralph Boston, the champion of the Olympics in 1960, continued to train him unofficially.

Bob Beamon's record (8 m 90 cm)

Bemon in 1968 showed a good result, jumping on 8 m 30 cm, which was at that time his personal record. Thanks to this, he was included in the United States Olympic team for long jump. September 18, 1968 at the stadium in Mexico City, he made his famous jump, more than half a meter beating the previous world record. A little-known athlete from the United States, in the eyes of many fans, managed to make the incredible. Over the previous 30 years, the record has grown only 22 cm. In the 1930s Jesse Owen jumped to 8 m 13 cm, and in the 1960s Ralph Boston showed a result of 8 m 35 cm.

Forecasts of specialists

The strongest jumper, who participated in the 1968 Olympic Games, understood that only a new world record could bring them victory. Experts believed that it is possible in the area of 8 m 50 cm. Two favorites of the competition were to fight for gold: Ralph Boston from the United States and Igor Ter-Ovanesyan from the Soviet Union. For 8 years before this Olympics, they fought each other for the title of the best jumper in the world. However, there was another candidate to win the competition - Lynn Davis, the Olympic champion in 1964, which, however, did not show a high result before the Olympics in Mexico City. But no one even imagined what Bob Beamon could do. His record was a surprise for everyone, including the athlete himself.

Incredible leap

Bob began to jump among the first. Externally, the American athlete resembled a huge hare - lean and very long (191 cm). He ran away as much as the path allowed, instantly swept over it. He jumped so far that the judge did not have enough tape measure to measure the distance. All who were then in the sector for jumping, could not believe their own eyes. The stadium roared after the numbers of 8.90 appeared on the scoreboard. Only Bob Beamon remained calm. He looked at the scoreboard, but could not understand the metric system, as he measured his results in feet. Finally, Ralph Boston told him that his long jump record with a take-off was over 29 feet. After that, Bob sank to his knees and for a long time could not come to himself.

It was clear to everyone that there was no point in continuing the competition. In addition, it was a heavy rain, so jumpers could not show a decent result. Each athlete understood that no one could even get close to this incredible record.

Beamon himself after this attempt once again went into the sector, jumping 8 meters 4 cm. The four remaining attempts he missed. According to the athlete, he until the last moment was afraid that his result would not be enough to win. Only having risen on a pedestal, the American athlete believed that he had become a champion.

Further sports career of Beamon

Leap played a cruel joke with Bob. Americans expected new victories from him. Many imagined Bemon as a superman who could perform miracles. But Bob was an ordinary athlete who was not ready to repeat his jump. In addition, Beamon, speaking on an artificial surface after the Olympics, received a stretching of the hip. He could not recover from this injury. The athlete changed the jogging leg, but even after that he showed quite good results.

Nevertheless, already next year he lost the championship to Igor Ter-Hovhannisyan. The adoration of the compatriots quickly gave way to disappointment. The career of the jumper was soon over. Bob became a hostage to one of his record.

The 1968 Olympics went down in history as a competition, on which a record was set for long jumps, lasting 23 years. Michael Powell, the representative of the United States, surpassed him only in 1991 at the World Championships. His record jump in length from the take-off was 8 m 95 cm.

After the completion of a career

Bob after all the failures in the sport sent all his energy to study. He graduated from the Bachelor of Sociology and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Adelphi. After that, he continued his research at the University of San Diego. Bob Beamon became the head of the athletics program, operating at the interuniversity level. He trains men's and women's teams.

Bob Beamon, mindful of a difficult childhood, is engaged in charity. He supports difficult-to-educate adolescents and children from poor families. Bob Beamon is an abstract artist and a successful businessman. His work won awards several times at exhibitions and opening days. In addition, he is a good family father, bringing up two children. Together with his wife Milano Beamon, he wrote an autobiographical book titled "A Man Who Could Dream: The History of Bob Beamon." Bob does not have poverty, however, he can not be called rich. An amazing leap that turned the notion of the possibilities of man brought Bimon a glory, but not money.

Such athletics surprises us sometimes. Men who participated in the Olympics after Bob Bemon, still could not jump further than he. The result of Bob is the current Olympic record. The leap of Bob Beamon forever entered the history of sports.