Entertainment For Lively Minds
The longest jump... ever
This is for sports' fans obviously.
There's a fascinating piece here in Sports Illustrated, written by Joe Posnanski about Mike Powell, Carl Lewis, Bob Beamon and the 30 foot jump.
http://joeposnanski.si.com/2011/08/02/the-30-foot-jump/
I've never heard about this jump before. Persevere (well I say persevere, but I thought this is a riveting piece of writing, very easy to read to get to it), through the story of the three athletes.
While I recall Mike Powell breaking the world record (a few weeks short of 20 years ago, can you believe?) I didn't realise how intense the competition was on the day between him and Lewis. It wasn't televised, but even if it was, taking place in Tokyo meant it would have been on at the wrong time of day. Whatever, when the news of the world record came over, I don't recall anything about this brilliant competition between the two men.
But the bit about the 30 foot jump is, as I say, completely new to me.
What a thought, living with the knowledge you'd done it, but it's not recognised.
- More from Carl Parker.
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Damn
*removes from tomorrow's newsletter*
Sorry
didn't mean to p*** on anyone's firework.
It's OK
I have subs on the bench
I thought you were talking about Kittinger there ;-)
And I thought
It was Sting, boasting again.
As Reg at the Fool and Bladder was wont to opine
Reg Smeeton, floccose red wig like a kipper nailed to his bonce, nodded with ill feigned interest. But the mad flexions of his face muscles and the nervous butterfly tick of his left eyelid argued the mental tumult within. Jigging, niggling, sale of the centipedes, and the quacking going up to five pounds, urging datum and fervid facts, chattering in Stockhausen tongues warring for outlet from his springboard lips. "Drawing from my vast, though admittedly unresolved catalogue of general know-it-all, facts of interest etc., corroborated, corobbaree a sacred or warlike assembly of aboriginals, and cross referenced, may I remind you of the exploits of one William Barker of Manchester. In the 1890’s Billy cleared a canal 35 feet wide, making a running jump, jack-knifing into a second, to land perfectly quite dry on the other side. This was called Spring Jumping. Nothing at all to do with the period vernal equinox to Summer solstice of course".
From Fall of Felt Hats VIVIAN STANSHALL (Sir Henry at Rawlinson End)
Now that's jumping
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Great piece
Though the Tokyo jumping was televised: this was the same World Champs when Liz McColgan won gold and the GB Men's 4 x 400 relay team beat the US, thanks, perhaps, to the tactical change of putting Roger Black first, and then Regis, Redmond and Akabusi.
I realised later
why I missed it. We moved house at the end of August 91, so I was busy unpacking stuff and all that nonsense.
Oops...
...got my dates mixed-up.