Shemiah Brooks(Southwest Guilford High School) is one of the top long jumpers and triple jumpers in the state of North Carolina on the high school level and how do you go about breaking the pit jumping records??? It is not easy at all, as many marks have been busted in high jumping and running, but with Long Jumping, now that is a different story and this bit of historical info from the Wall Street Journal will back that up in hurry…..
When it comes to establishing new marks in the Long-Jump, sometimes it can be the ‘pits’ and you might say it is pitiful that nobody can master the art of the running broad jump, but here is the story behind the story of not much glory, when you hit the boards and sail high and long and then into the sand, with your heels ready to tell the real story, about how you came to land in that sand(pit)…..
The news on the Long Jump from www.wsj.com:
When Bob Beamon leapt 29 feet, 2 ½ inches to set a world record at the 1968 Olympics, his performance was a total anomaly: He smashed the old record by nearly two feet. It helped that Beamon was jumping in the thin air of Mexico City with a slight wind at his back, but Beamon also benefited from a flash of biomechanical wizardry not even he could replicate.
Experts who have watched the jump on video say Beamon was somehow able to sweep his trail leg across his body at twice his normal rate as he hit the board, creating an explosive whipping action that launched him into the exosphere. Beamon never again broke 27 feet. His record stood for nearly 23 years until Mike Powell eclipsed the mark by two inches in 1991—a record that still stands.
*****Bob Beamon broke the record in 1968 and his record stood until Mike Powell broke it in 1991 and that mark still stands today and that shows you tough a feat this is, when you try and make your feet hit that board and you attempt to clear the pit….It is a tough/hard record to get and you can get more info on how to try and jump clear out of that long jump pit when you CLICK HERE for today’s lesson on ‘Breaking the Long Jump Code’ from the Wall Street Journal……*****