BBC Sporting Witness...Mike Powell's World Record Long Jump of 8.95 metres

Competition : IAAF World Championships in Tokyo in 1991. Bob Beamon's long jump record of 8.90 metres which was set at altitude in the thinner air at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico has stood for 23 years. In the final of the long jump at the 1991 World Championships, Mike Powell and Carl Lewis of the USA go head to head to decide who wins the World title. It would turn out to be a clash that required a new World record to determine the winner.

The BBC recently had an interview with Mike Powell about the 8.95 metre long jump world record which still stands to this day. You can listen to it HERE

Some video clips...

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Pt4

The Dirtiest Race in History...

The mens 100 metre final at the 1988 Seoul Olympics is certainly one of the most controversial races in the history of the Olympic Games. For many years, the story was cut and dry. Ben Johnson of Canada won the race, then failed a drugs test for the banned substance Stanozolol, and he was disqualified and stripped of his title. Carl Lewis of the USA was then given the Gold medal.

A book published last Summer called the Dirtiest Race in History shone a completely different light on events. It is now felt that most of the athletes in that race were in fact on drugs and most failed a drugs test at some stage in their career.

A film called 9.79* by Daniel Gordon interviews all of the contestants in that race. It's an incredible insight into a time when one of the leading coaches reckons that 80% of the athletes were taking something. How the US authorities covered up their own positive tests and how Carl Lewis still has a lot of questions to answer.

The documentary is 1 hour 20 minutes long. It might be one to watch over the Christmas holidays.