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Bob Beamon
Summary
Robert Beamon (born August 29, 1946) is an American former track and field athlete, best known for his world record in the long jump at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. By jumping , he broke the existing record by a margin of and his world record stood for almost 23 years until it was broken in 1991 by Mike Powell. The jump is still the Olympic record and the second-longest wind legal jump in history.
Robert Beamon was born in South Jamaica, Queens, New York, to Naomi Brown Beamon and grew up in the New York Housing Authority's Jamaica Houses. When Beamon was eight months old, his mother died from tuberculosis, and, as a result of his stepfather’s incarceration, he was placed into the care of his maternal grandmother, Bessie.
When Beamon was attending Jamaica High School, he was discovered by Larry Ellis, a renowned track coach. Beamon later became part of the All-American track and field team. Beamon began his college career at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, to be close to his ill grandmother. After her death, he transferred to the University of Texas at El Paso, where he received a track and field scholarship.
In 1965, Beamon set a national high school triple jump record and was second in the nation in the long jump. In 1967, he won the AAU indoor title and earned a silver medal at the Pan American Games, both in the long jump.
Beamon along with eleven other Black athletes were dropped from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) track and field team the week following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. for participating in a boycott of competition with Brigham Young University because of what has been described as the Book of Mormon's racist teachings, although the Book of Mormon's historical and doctrinal statements on ancestry are subject to multiple interpretations. Despite losing his athletic scholarship, Beamon returned to UTEP to continue his studies after the Mexico City Olympics. Fellow Olympian Ralph Boston became his unofficial coach.
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