Bob Beamon, whose biography is presented in the article, is the famous American long jumper. At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, he performed a miracle. Bob set a world record by jumping 8 m 90 cm, breaking the previous result by about half a meter. This record held for a very long time - 23 years. The jump Bob made is one of the greatest achievements in the history of world sports.
Beamon today leads an active life. He is an abstract artist, philanthropist, businessman, and co-author of an autobiographical book. Want to know more about him? Then read the article.
The origin and childhood of Bob
Bob Beamon was born in New York on August 29, 1946. He was born in Queens, a poor black neighborhood. The future champion was orphaned early. His father passed away when Bob was only 3 months old. His mother married a second time. When Bimon was a year and 2 months old, she died of tuberculosis. Since the boy's stepfather was in prison, he was taken up by Bessie Brown, a mother's grandmother.
Bob's childhood passed on the streets of New York amidst violence, drugs and street gangs. When Bimon grew up a little, he, like many of his friends who lived in the neighborhood, ended up in a school for hard-to-educate children. The boy was not very diligent. Once during an school brawl, an incident occurred that affected his future fate: Bob accidentally hit his teacher. For this he was expelled from school. Beamon was placed in a colony for juvenile delinquents, where he was to serve his sentence.
Alternative school tuition
At age 14, Bob was freed from the colony. He was enrolled in an alternative school in New York, where he studied juvenile delinquents. Beamon, recalling 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 early months, Bob was very uneasy. However, gradually, the former member of the New York street gang began to forget his past. Lerry Ellis, one of the teachers who coached the alternative school's basketball team, helped him a lot in this. Lerry became a father and mother to Bob. He gave the boy the opportunity to believe in himself.
Sportsmanship
The teenager was seriously interested in sports. Later, he recalled how, together with friends, he decorated his school with red, blue and white flowers to meet with Olympic athletes: Donn de Voron, Ralph Boston, etc. This event changed Bob's whole future life, making him think about his future. Beamon began to study more diligently, and in his free time he went in for sports.
A physically strong and very tall guy showed promise. Professional basketball teams of various ranks offered Bob Beamon contracts several times. However, he constantly refused, because he did not want to make money in sports. Beamon decided to continue his studies. Basketball soon ceased to interest him: the young man was fascinated by the world of athletics. Bob began to practice long jumps. The young man at first jumped no better than others, but he stubbornly honed the technique, achieving high results.
Speaking for a university team, a US record
Gradually, Bob became one of the best students of his school. He no longer looked like a hard-to-educate teenager. Beamon 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, Bob was put on the track and field team, representing the University of El Paso, located in Texas. Beamon honorably competed for this university. In 1965, Bob scored a triple jump, setting a US record.
Scandal. Beamon remains without a coach
Beamon was involved in the scandal 4 months before the qualifying championship of 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 Bryam Jung University. Beamon thus protested against the racial policies pursued by the Mormons. A promising young athlete 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 1960 Olympics, continued to train him informally.
Bob Beamon record (8 m 90 cm)
Beamon in 1968 showed a good result, jumping 8 m 30 cm, which was his personal record at that time. Thanks to this, he was included in the United States Olympic long jump team. September 18, 1968 at the stadium in Mexico City, he made his famous jump, breaking more than half a meter of the previous world record. A little-known athlete from the United States in front of many fans managed to accomplish the incredible. Over the previous 30 years, the record only grew by 22 cm. In the 1930s, Jesse Owen jumped 8 m 13 cm, and in the 1960s Ralph Boston showed a result of 8 m 35 cm.
Forecasts of specialists
The strongest jumpers participating in the 1968 Olympics understood that only a new world record could bring victory to them. Experts believed that it was possible in the region of 8 m 50 cm. Two favorites of the competition were to fight for gold: Ralph Boston from the USA and Igor Ter-Hovhannisyan from the Soviet Union. For 8 years before this Olympics, they fought with each other for the title of best jumper in the world. However, there was another candidate for victory in the competition - Lynn Davis, the Olympic champion in 1964, who, however, did not show a high result before the Olympics in Mexico City. But no one even imagined what Bob Beamon was capable of. His record was a surprise to everyone, including the athlete himself.
Incredible jump
Bob began to jump among the first. Outwardly, the American athlete resembled a huge hare - thin and very long (191 cm). He fled as much as the track allowed, and instantly swept along it. He jumped so far that the judge did not have enough roulette to measure the distance. Everyone who was then in the sector for jumping, could not believe their own eyes. The stadium roared after the numbers 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 distance record was over 29 feet. After that, Bob knelt down and for a long time could not recover.
It was clear to everyone that it did not make sense to continue the competition. In addition, it began to rain heavily, so jumpers could not show a decent result. Each athlete understood that no one could even get close to this incredible record.
After this attempt, Bimon himself once again entered the sector, jumping 8 meters 4 cm. He missed the four remaining attempts. According to the athlete, until the last moment he was afraid that his result would not be enough to win. As soon as he climbed the podium, the American athlete believed that he had become a champion.
Further Beamon Sports Career
The jump played a trick on Bob. The Americans expected new victories from him. Many represented Bimon as a superman who could work miracles. But Bob was an ordinary athlete who was not ready to repeat his jump. In addition, Beamon, speaking on artificial turf after the Olympics, received a hip sprain. He could not recover from this injury. The athlete changed his pushing leg, but even after that he showed quite good results.
Nevertheless, the very next year he lost the championship to Igor Ter-Hovhannisyan. The adoration of compatriots quickly gave way to disappointment. Jumper's career soon ended. Bob became a hostage to one of his records.
The 1968 Olympics went down in history as a competition that set a record for long jumps that lasted 23 years. The representative of the United States, Michael Powell, surpassed him only in 1991 at the World Cup. His record for a long jump with a run was 8 m 95 cm.
After retirement
After failures in sports, Bob directed all his energy to study. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology and cultural anthropology from the University of Adelphi. After that, he continued his research at the University of San Diego. Bob Beamon has become the head of the inter-university track and field program. He coaches male and female teams.
Bob Beamon, mindful of his difficult childhood, is engaged in charity work. He supports poorly educated adolescents and children from poor families. Bob Beamon is an abstract artist and a successful businessman. His work has won awards several times at exhibitions and opening days. In addition, he is a good father of the family, raising two children. Together with his wife Milana Bimon, he wrote an autobiographical book entitled "The Man Who Could Dream: The Story of Bob Bimon." Bob does not live in poverty, but he cannot be called rich either. An amazing leap that turned the idea of human capabilities upside down brought Bimon fame, but not money.
These are some interesting surprises that athletics sometimes brings to us. The men who participated in the Olympics after Bob Beamon have still not been able to jump further than he. Bob's result is the current Olympic record. Bob Beamon’s jump has gone down in sports history forever.