The man behind the 'leap of the century'
Bob Beamon’s long jump in the ’68 Olympics smashed records; a word was even coined in his honour. But as he accepted his gold, he questioned what to do with the rest of his life.
Growing up in South Jamaica, Queen’s in 1960s New York, Bob Beamon had a tough start in life. Orphaned before he was one, he got mixed up in gangs but then, when he was a teenager, his extraordinary athletic talent was discovered. Sport offered him a way out from the streets. At the men’s long jump final in the 1968 Olympics he made a leap so jaw-dropping that a new word was invented to describe what he’d done: 'beamonesque'. But as he accepted his gold medal, he questioned what to do with the rest of his life to match that moment. Now, more than half a century after his record-breaking jump, he’s returned to his first love –music – to attempt another kind of record.
Producer: Zoe Gelber
Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Bob Beamon. Credit: Getty Images)
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