One of the most groundbreaking long jumpers in history, Bob Beamon easily etched his name in the record books. Originally from Queens, New York, Beamon attended the University of Texas at El Paso on a track & field scholarship in 1967. Although his time at UTEP was cut short, his time with the miners helped him prepare to compete on the international stage winning the AAU Title and silver at the Pan American Games. In 1968, Beamon qualified for the ‘68 Mexico City Summer Olympics. In the final with a jump of 29ft, 2.5 in Beamon smashed the previous record, eclipsing it by almost 2 feet. Today, Beamon still holds the Olympic record for long jump and has the second-longest wind-legal jump in history. His iconic jump actually inspired a new word in the dictionary- “Beamonesque” which is used to describe spectacular feats.
Tonight he makes another Beamonesque jump … straight
into the Texas sports hall of fame.
