For comparison, Carl Lewis' greatest winning margin in the long jump at the Olympics was 30 cm which he achieved in Los Angeles in 1984.

This forced the officials to bring a tape measure to gauge the jump manually, which added to the feat's aura.

When the announcer called out the distance for the jump, Beamon – unfamiliar with metric measurements – still did not realize what he had done.

[3] When his teammate and coach Ralph Boston told him that he had broken the world record by nearly 2 feet, his legs gave way and an astonished and overwhelmed Beamon suffered a brief cataplexy attack brought on by the emotional shock,[4] and collapsed to his knees, his body unable to support itself, placing his hands over his face.

[5] The defending Olympic champion Lynn Davies told Beamon, "You have destroyed this event," and in sports jargon, a new adjective – Beamonesque – came into use to describe spectacular feats.

The three Tokyo medalists remained serious medal contenders; Boston and Ter-Ovanesyan shared the world record and Davies was the 1966 European and Commonwealth champion.

[1][better source needed] The Bahamas, Belize, Malaysia, Nicaragua, and Senegal each made their first appearance in the event.

The qualifying round gave each competitor three jumps to achieve a distance of 7.65 metres; if fewer than 12 men did so, the top 12 (including all those tied) would advance.

Much like 1936 winner Jesse Owens had done facing the same situation, Beamon aimed his takeoff for a few inches short of the line—sacrificing distance for avoiding a third foul, expecting that he would be able to reach the required 7.65 metres anyway.