A Remarkable Sports Day: Anniversaries, Records, Holidays, Dramatic Moments, Iconic Films, and Unsung Heroes - Our Daily Journey Through Sports History. Today's Highlight: Bob Beamon's Astonishing Leap of 8.90 Meters at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, earning him a gold medal. His record held strong until 1991 when it was finally surpassed.

It lasted six long seconds. Back then, on October 18, 1968, at the Olympic Games in Mexico City. Six seconds, then Bob Beamon almost landed on the edge of the long jump pit.

The measuring device failed and the old tape measure had to be used. When, after a long delay, the legendary 8.90 meters lit up on the scoreboard, the sports world held its breath. They had witnessed one of the greatest achievements in the history of sport.

Bob Beamon, then 22 years old, had beaten the existing world record by 55 (!) centimeters, virtually pulverizing it. He had come from nowhere and landed in eternity.

"Tell me I'm not dreaming," were Beamon's first words after his "leap into the 21st century." It really was like a dream, but it was never to be a pleasant one for the young student.

Life had other plans for him. The supposed leap into happiness fizzled out, and what remained was disillusionment. Still on the podium, he asked himself the question, "Where will I go after this?" Bob Beamon has always been Bob Beamon has always been a seeker.

FROM THE "JUNGLE" TO THE OLYMPICS

His pillar of support in his early years, his beloved mother, died when he was a child. Beamon was never able to fill that gap. The boy searched for ways out of the crisis; at school he was a brawler or a clown. Torn between the two, he staggered through his daily life. "My school days were a jungle. You always had to be on your toes, ready to fight or run," Beamon said.

The path out of the jungle initially led to basketball, but Beamon was a better track athlete. On the advice of his coach, he went to North Carolina University and moved near his ailing grandma. When she died, too, he transferred to El Paso, Texas. There he worked on technique and speed.

On October 18, 1968, Beamon brought his skills to perfection. But it almost didn't happen at all. It began the night before, when his personal problems suddenly overwhelmed him. After boycotting several black athletes, Beamon had been expelled from the University of Texas-El Paso. He was also newly separated from his wife.

"Everything was going wrong, so I went downtown, had some tequila. Man, what a lost feeling I had," the now 72-year-old reported. Then he suddenly faced elimination in the qualifier after two invalid attempts. His teammate Ralph Boston, the world record holder, calmed him down. With success - Beamon made it to the final.

Then the unthinkable happened. It was his first attempt. Beamon flew, he landed, he hopped out of the pit twice more and pranced back to his chair like a young colt. "Then it took five, ten, even 15 minutes," Beamon described.

When the 8.90m finally lit up, Beamon still didn't understand what he had just accomplished. It wasn't until he converted to feet and inches that he knew for sure. Beamon collapsed on the track, overcome by his emotions.

WORLD RECORD HOLDER UNTIL 1991

It was the first and also the last time he experienced such a thing. Beamon never came close to jumping into his own dimension in the aftermath. "Some people told me I just had a lucky jump at the Olympics, after a while I believed that," he said.

Bob Beamon retired in 1973, having had a career highlighted by a single remarkable year, 1968. He transitioned into a role as a social worker. Fifteen years later, he received the well-deserved honor of induction into the Hall of Fame. It was only eight more years until his fellow countryman, Mike Powell, outperformed his record in Tokyo in 1991 with a world-record leap of 8.95 meters, a record that still stands today.

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