Bob Beamon

1968 Summer Olympics

Beamon entered the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City as the favorite to win the gold medal, having won 22 of the 23 meets he had competed in that year, including a career-best of and a world's best of that was ineligible for the record books due to excessive wind assistance. That year, he won the AAU and NCAA indoor long jump and triple jump titles and the AAU outdoor long jump title.

On October 18, Beamon set a world record for the long jump with a first jump of , bettering the existing record by . When the announcer called out the distance for the jump, Beamon—unfamiliar with metric measurements—still did not realize what he had done. When his teammate and coach Ralph Boston told him that he had broken the world record by nearly two feet, his legs gave way and an astonished and overwhelmed Beamon suffered a brief cataplexy attack brought on by the emotional shock, and collapsed to his knees, his body unable to support itself, placing his hands over his face. The defending Olympic champion Lynn Davies told Beamon, "You have destroyed this event", and in sports jargon, a new adjective—Beamonesque—came into use to describe spectacular feats.

Before Beamon's jump, the world record had been broken thirteen times since 1901, with an average increase of and the largest increase being . In the years following the jump, the mark was considered unbeatable. It took 12 years for another human being to jump 28 feet, much less 29. Beamon's world record stood for 23 years until it was finally broken in 1991 when Mike Powell jumped at the World Championships in Tokyo, but Beamon's jump is still the Olympic record and years later remains the second-longest wind-legal jump in history.

Later life Shortly after the Mexico City Olympics, Beamon was drafted by the Phoenix Suns in the 15th round of the 1969 NBA draft but never played in an NBA game. In 1972, he graduated from Adelphi University with a degree in sociology.

In 1977, Beamon became a track coach at U.S. International University (since a 2001 merger Alliant International University) in San Diego.

Beamon has worked in various roles to promote youth athleticism, including collaborations with former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Beamon's work at the athletic programs of several universities. He is a graphic artist with work exhibited by the Art of the Olympians (AOTO), and was the former chief executive of the Art of the Olympians Museum in Fort Myers, Florida. In 2024, Beamon played percussion on a hip-hop jazz recording.

He is also a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics International.

Honors Beamon is in the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. When the United States Olympic Hall of Fame started to induct athletes in 1983, Beamon was one of the first inductees. There is a Bob Beamon Street in El Paso, Texas.

Awards ANOC Gala Awards 2015: Outstanding Performance