by Larry EderThe long jump battle at Tokyo World Champs in 1991 was, epic. The battle between the two greatest long jumpers of all times, Carl Lewis and Mike Powell, came to that certian moment.
Mike Powell’s world record of 8.95 meters was the focus of a magnifiscent ad on the back cover of Track & Field News, run once, it was, well amazing.
Powell’s reaction to Ed Warner’s ill-timed manifesto should surprise no one. As Warner said, some records are questionable, and some are not.
We are in a time when everything about our sport is being questioned. It is the part of social media that one must accept, as well as the good parts of the social media culture.
Mike Powell threatens to ‘slap’ anyone who suggests resetting world records
Mike Powell has warned he would “slap” anyone who tried to take his world record from him amid the fall-out from the ongoing athletics doping scandal.
The American long jumper broke Bob Beamon’s 23-year-old mark when he leapt out to 8.95 metres at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo.
Powell has reacted angrily to a proposal by Ed Warner, chairman of UK Athletics, to scrap existing records and start again in a clean era for the sport.
Speaking on BBC 5 Live’s Sportsweek programme on Sunday, Powell said: “The long jump is one of those events where the record has lasted a long time.
“Jesse Owens had the record for 25 years; Bob Beamon had the record for 23 years; I have had the record for 24 years, so is somebody suggesting that something was wrong with Jesse Owens and Bob Beamon, so we have to change those records too?
“Who is this person? Have they ever competed? Do they know anything about athletics? Do they know anything about human genetics? Who are they? Shut up!
“You can’t penalise somebody because you have a thought that somebody did something. To penalise one person – if I was the only one who was clean, it’s wrong to penalise me because of the faults of someone else.
“That’s my life and I stand on that. Are you accusing me then of cheating? Then okay, that means you called me a liar and you’re going to call me a liar in my face. I’m a man and you’re a man, you are going to have to deal with me.
“I’m serious, this is my life. I’m not going to let you do that. I’m a strong man. I stand for what I have done.”
Powell went on to claim that cheating happens in all walks of life and that it was unfair to punish athletes disproportionately.
To read the entire story, go to: http://www.espn.co.uk/athletics/story/_/id/14587497/long-jump-world-record-holder-mike-powell-vows-slap-anyone-suggests-resetting-world-records
