JOIN USBob Beamon provided one of the most iconic moments in athletics history when he improved the long jump world record by more than half a metre to win gold at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
His record of 8.90 metres stood for a staggering 23 years before Mike Powell smashed it with a spectacular performance at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, leaping to 8.95 metres. In this interview Beamon shares his words of wisdom, picking out factors that will help a talented athlete reach his or her full potential.
1. Keep running up that hill
The road to success in athletics can be a tough, uphill journey, so it is important to be patient in order to overcome those obstacles. Patience is important not only in athletics but also in general life away from the track. I know that I had to learn patience over time in my track career.
At high school I jumped around 7.60M but I remember losing my patience when I got to college and I got beat by a high school athlete by the name of Jerry Proctor. I thought ‘how can I let a high school student beat me?’
But over time I figured I just needed to be patient. If you don’t have patience you start losing focus, you become disconcerted and achieve nothing.
I also recall another time when I was beaten to gold at the 1967 Pan American Games by Ralph Boston (former world record holder and 1960 Olympic long jump champion). I was too cocky and lost focus. Fortunately, Ralph was a great teacher and I learned from him. That experience taught me I needed to be ready to jump at all times.
2. With experience comes consistency
During the early part of my career I was inconsistent. During one meet I would jump a certain distance, but then not deliver at the next meet. I knew that there was something going on causing me to lack consistency. I realised I never had any real experience of running.
It was only after teaming up and training with Tommie Smith and John Carlos (200M gold and bronze medallists at Mexico City Olympics 1968) that I learned how to sprint properly, improved my work on the runway and became a more consistent long jumper.
3. Champions commit
Are you prepared to be fully committed in order to become a champion? Because if you are not, then you are not going to reach your goals. My dream as a youngster was to be a pro basketballer, yet from high school I realised I had more of a talent for track and field and I started to become more committed.
I saw that I was improving, and from the age of 17 or 18 I became fully committed. To reach this point you need to recognise your shortcomings and work on overcoming them. It was then I gave up doing bad things and started doing good things. If I had not been so committed to the sport I would never have won in Mexico City.