29. Bob Beamon-1968 Summer Games
They say records are meant to be broken, but in the case of Bob Beamon, this meant so much more. Bob was part of the American Track & Field team, set to take part in the Long Jump. He took part in what was eventually dupped “The Leap of the Century” in Mexico City during the Summer Olympic Games in 1968. The Long Jump record at the time was a modest one but good enough to stand for quite some time.
Beamon destroyed it by beating the then-World Record by almost 22 inches. This is nearly two feet! It was such a big amount that the measuring equipment used to measure the jump was not even long enough! To top it off, Beamon’s record would eventually be broken 23 years later. Funny enough, the 23-year-old Olympic World Record is the longest-held record in the history of the Olympic Games.