Mike Powell

American Mike Powell jumped 8.95 metres (29 ft 4¼ in) at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, in a duel with Carl Lewis. It broke Bob Beamon's 8.90 m, a mark that had stood for almost 23 years since the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

The 1991 jump was wind-legal. Powell's record has now stood for more than 35 years.

Context

Mike Powell's leap of 8.95 m came on 30 August 1991 at the World Championships in Tokyo, in one of the great duels of athletics. Carl Lewis had won 15 straight long jump finals and jumped 8.91 m in the same contest, which was longer than the old record but aided by wind above the legal limit, so it could not count.

Powell's jump measured 8.95 m with a legal wind reading of 0.3 metres per second. It beat Bob Beamon's 8.90 m, set at high altitude in Mexico City in 1968, a leap that astonished the sport because it exceeded the previous record by 55 cm. Beamon's mark had survived for nearly 23 years before Powell overtook it.

Long jump distance is measured from the take-off board to the nearest mark in the sand made by any part of the body. Jumpers run up to about 40 m and reach speeds near 10 metres per second at take-off. No athlete has come within about 10 cm of Powell's mark in a legal competition, and few have passed 8.7 m, which shows how exceptional it remains.