Evening Standard
Much is being made of the fact that the British, intoxicated by the success of the Olympic team, have lost their British sense of fairness and become far too partisan.
But here is one man who thinks Team GB are like no other.
“I have never seen Great Britain start off with such momentum. Usually with the British there is a spot of brilliance. With this British Olympic team, it is total brilliance. The pulse was high. The British athletes were so aggressive. They were like Americans, very confident in what they set out to do. That is a sign of mental toughness. I had never seen it before.”
The words are from a man whose mental toughness cannot be doubted: Bob Beamon, who won the long jump gold in Mexico in 1968. The American dethroned Lynn Davies, the last British winner of this title before Greg Rutherford and, on Saturday, watched the new British title holder carefully.
“Greg Rutherford did extremely well,” said Beamon. “This is a mind game. When you get to this level, you have great ability. The question is how do you put your mind and matter together. How does it sync.”
Beamon had no problems getting mind and body together that night in Mexico City. “I did not fear Lynn. I expected to win,” recalled Beamon, whose 8.9m jump is still an Olympic record.
Beamon never took part in another Olympics, deciding to go back to his studies, and his only regret is that circumstances beyond his control in Mexico stopped him breaking his record again.
“I never got a chance to jump my second or third attempt because the weather took charge,” he said. “I think I was capable of jumping 9 metres.”
The 1968 Olympics will always be remembered for John Carlos and Tommie Smith giving the Black Power salute from the victory podium to highlight racial discrimination in the United States.
Beamon lost a scholarship at the University of Texas for protesting against racial discrimination but said of the salute: “I would not have done it. However, I felt that John and Tommy made a statement that represented humanity. I agreed with the reasons.”
