World and Olympic Record: 8.90m Robert Beamon, United States Mexico City, Mexico 18th October 1968.
The most dramatic events of a lacklustre competition were the unfortunate
fracture suffered by Larry Myricks, and the opening jump of the
final. Myricks, who had improved from 7.84 to 8.26w to make the US
team, broke a bone in his foot as he was on the runway warming up for
the final. Robinson started the competition with his lifetime best of
8.35, into a slight headwind, to effectively end the competition. He had
two further jumps beyond the best of Munich winner Randy Williams,
with GDR’s Frank Wartenberg the only other man to leap more than 8.00.
Qualification - Wednesday 28.07
Mark 7.80m. 9 Athletes passed the Mark. Next 3 Best added to Final. Virtual Mark 7.73m