Powell, "Mike" (Michael)
Track and Field
b. Nov. 10, 1963, Philadelphia, PA
Powell was not a likely candidate to break Bob Beamon's long-standing world long jump record with a leap of over 29 feet. As a student at UCLA, his personal best was a 26-9¾ in 1985, when he finished third at the national championships. However, he also competed in the high jump, triple jump, and sprints, so he didn't focus on the long jump until after graduating in 1987.
Within a year, the 6-foot-3, 165-pound Powell was clearly the second best long jumper in the world, but he continually finished behind Carl Lewis, who had been chasing Beamon's record for years. At the 1991 world championships in Tokyo, Powell stunned Lewis and the world with a jump of 29 feet, 4½ inches, bettering Beamon's 1968 mark by 2 inches. He won the Sullivan award as the nation's outstanding amateur athlete for the accomplishment.
Powell, who finished second to Lewis to win a silver medal at the 1988 Olympics, took another silver in 1992 behind Lewis. However, he won the world championship in 1993, with Lewis out of action, beating the second place finisher by nearly a foot and a half, and he was also the national long jump champion that year.
In 1993 and 1994, Powell won 34 straight competitions. After an indifferent 1995 season, it seemed that Powell wouldn't make the Olympic team, since he was sixth in the trials with only one jump remaining. That one jump got him into first place, though. However, he tore a groin muscle during competition in Atlanta and finished only fifth.