I appreciate altitude makes a difference and people can speculate as to what drugs people were taking back in the 80s and 90s but the 100m record has gone down. Do these long jumpers have a once in a generation body type?

I appreciate altitude makes a difference and people can speculate as to what drugs people were taking back in the 80s and 90s but the 100m record has gone down. Do these long jumpers have a once in a generation body type?

Almost certainly because the current holders were all heffed up on goofballs

There’s less 100m sprinters doubling up on long jump. 

I think the issue is there are so many variables to long jump. 100m a bad start you've still got 95m to pull something back. Run up slightly off and you probably lost a massive amount of energy, plus you have the need to have at least one safe jump to be sure of a medal. So effectively you are getting two chances when you are completely on point. Add to that the potential for the record holders to be physiological freaks and/or doped up, and potentially that they have become a great deal stricter in monitoring fouls and marking jumps and you can see why it isn't constantly beaten. Also not sure anyone retired off being a long jumper so probably lose a lot of the talent pool to track events. 

You're bound to pick up an injury I suppose. Altitude is a strange thing. Sprinters go faster and jumpers jump further because the air in thinner. Anyone running further is left gasping for oxygen.   

Would be interesting to know what sort of lengths are achieved in practice on a regular basis - I suspect competition jumps are not most people’s longest given the number of practice jumps they must do

I don't think Bob Beamon ever came close to repeating that jump.

His second best legal jump in his career was 8.33. I think he had a 8.39 wind-assisted jump that year too. To go from that to 8.90 is unreal.

Powell had a wind-assisted 8.99 the year after 8.95 but otherwise his best eligible jump was 8.70 (still 17th best distance of all-time).

Given that they are such outliers in those jumpers' careers it would seem to be more fluke performances when everything came together perfectly at the right time. Beamon's jump was at the maximum permitted wind assistance, it was at altitude. It's still the second biggest legal jump of all time.

That 1991 competition was insane. Has anyone done a film about that?

There's a really good film about Ben Johnson from a couple of years ago (think it's on Netflix).

A doctor is interviewed at the start talking about sprinters taking growth hormone, which causes the jawbone to grow. The doctor says something like "everyone was taking it - you don't get grown men all wearing retainers for no reason".

They later show loads of interviews with Carl Lewis with braces on his teeth at the age of 27.

I smashed 6m in the long jump back in the day. Trufax. 

I think I managed something like that in the triple jump back in the day but I was wearing braces at high altitude. 

Heh.

Btw I've sent you and Octolady a message on facebook. 

Lewis had numerous jumps in the 8.70s although they were no doubt chemically enhanced. It's the other two whose performances are such outliers that fascinate me. 

I find long jump, when you actually see 8 half metres marked out in real life, to be the most incredible event in terms of looking  like a super human feet.

and feat

The Emmiyan jump was at altitude and I would submit that the wind reading of +1.9 was in reality +lots more than 2.

Beamon broke the record so much that his was the first 29ft jump - and the first 28ft jump did not come until 14 years later.