2024-01-20 06:45:00
Bob Beamon’s record jump.
How much money can recognition of glory cost? What amount would be appropriate to fairly reflect the value of a symbol of an eternal sporting feat?
This is what Christie’s intends to find out on February 1. That day the multinational auction of art and luxury objects has reserved the best of its rooms in New York City to open the bidding for the gold medal that the American athlete Bob Beamon won at the Olympic Games in Mexico on the 18th. October 1968, after achieving a long jump that had never been seen before and that changed the sport forever.
Christie’s has initially estimated that the bidding will start at a price of between 400,000 and 600,000 dollars (between just over 367,000 and 551,000 euros). It is now possible to register bids on the company’s website.
Bob Beamon Gold MedalSanz Sánchez de Rojas, Fernando
In the long jump final at the Mexico Olympics, Beamon jumped 8.90 meters, breaking the previous world record by 55 centimeters. His jump, dubbed “the jump of the century,” remains the Olympic long jump record more than 50 years later.
Beamon, 22 years old at the time, was a promising athlete, but was not the favorite to win the gold medal in Mexico. The favorites were Ralph Boston, the 1964 Olympic champion, and Klaus Beer, the 1966 world champion. The long jump final began with Beamon recording a jump of 8.22 meters, which placed him in second place behind Boston. Beer, however, was injured on his first jump and was unable to continue. On his second jump, Beamon launched himself with all his might. Coming off the jumping board, his body rose into the air and landed on the sand, the scoreboard showed that he had jumped 8.90 meters.
The crowd at Mexico’s Olympic University Stadium was stunned. The commentators couldn’t believe what they had seen. Beamon had surpassed the world record by a distance so great that it could not be explained by science. Beamon’s jump was a historic moment in the sport. It was a leap that exceeded expectations and changed the way athletics was viewed. In fact, Beamon landed so far beyond the reach of the optical mark that the track judges had to pull out a tape measure to manually measure the jump. “I was really relaxed and felt like I could float on water,” Beamon recalls of the moment.
Brainy analysts immediately began to spread the hypothetical reasons why Bob Beamon was able to make such an incredible jump. One of them was the altitude of Mexico City. The city is located more than 2,200 meters above sea level, which reduces the density of the air. This allows athletes to jump farther as they have to propel themselves through less dense air. Another reason was Beamon’s technique. He was a very powerful jumper and had great technique. Although he also had a bit of luck. On the day of his jump, the wind was blowing in his favor, which helped him gain momentum.
Before Beamon’s jump, world athletics records were measured in feet and inches. After the jump, it was changed to meters. This was done to reflect the magnitude of Beamon’s jump and to make the records easier to understand for viewers around the world.
Beamon’s Olympic record stands. No one in the Olympic Games has been able to jump further than their feat. We had to wait until August 30, 1991 to see an athlete ‘fly’ just like Beamon did. Fellow American athlete Mike Powell raised the mark, in this case as a world record, by 8 meters 95 centimeters.
To give even more symbolism to the medal that is going to be auctioned, Christie’s remembers the political context that prevailed in the United States at the time Beamon achieved the record. The country was immersed in intense political and social turbulence that included the fight for civil rights and widespread antiwar protests in response to the Vietnam War.
Just two days before Beamon’s record, African-American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood on the Olympic podium and raised their black-gloved fists in the Black Power Salute. Beamon received the medal from him with his tracksuit pants rolled up to his ankles, revealing the black socks he was wearing in solidarity with his teammates.
Bob Beamon celebrates his victory at the Mexico Olympic Games 68Rich Clarkson (Sports Illustrated via Getty Ima)
After the national anthem, Beamon turned to the crowd, holding the box with his gold medal in his left arm and raising his right arm as well. Today Beamon is an active philanthropist, having created programs to help athletes and orienting his life towards jazz music.
Follow all the information about Cinco Días in Facebook, X y Linkedinor nuestra newsletter Five Day Agenda
Register for free to continue reading in Cinco Días
If you have an account in EL PAÍS, you can use it to identify yourself
Thanks for reading Cinco Días
_
#Christies #auctions #gold #medal #Bob #Beamon #man #managed #fly #Mexico #Olympic #Games68 #Fortunes