Usually, the articles on Just Fly Sports are devoted to training means and methods to improve an athlete’s speed, strength and power. This post is simply here to draw your attention to the beauty of human achievement, and competition, in three of the greatest displays of jumping in modern history.
As far as jumping goes, we have three primary categories, which are:
- Jumping high (high jump)
- Jumping far (long jump)
- Jumping high, and with coordination (dunking)
Of course, there are other great displays of jumping out there, and don’t hate me for leaving pole vault and triple jump out of the equation, but today were are focusing on the great “duels” of these three basic jump disciplines.
The following are my thoughts on the best jump showdowns of all time, but if you have something better, leave a comment at the end of this post!
First up, we’ll start with the Long Jump:
Long Jump Epic Duel: 1991 Carl Lewis vs. Mike Powell
A quick history on this duel, Carl Lewis (yes, I know he did steroids) at the time was (and still is) the most prolific long jumper of all time. His sprint technique on the runway exemplifies everything I am reading in Frans Bosch/Ronald Klomp’s book “Running”, which I highly recommend. Mike Powell also is extremely fast, and exhibits unbelievable power and lift off of the board, watch the action of his center of mass right before takeoff!
How often is it that you see two athletes at the world record in their respective discipline?
High Jump Epic Duel: 2014 Mutaz Barshim vs. Bohdan Bondarenko
Up until a few years ago, the track and field high jump was a bit of a desolate area. In a lull between the years of 2000 and 2010, jumping 2.35m meant you were hot stuff. Everyone figured that all the records of the early 1990’s were steroid related, so nobody seemed to ever raise a fuss that a 2.40m clearance was out of reach for so long.
Enter 2013.
Bohdahn Bondarenko stormed the high jump world by jumping 7’11, virtually “out of nowhere”. I was someone who thought the drug, or peptide card was a serious option, except for the fact that A: Bohdan is rail thin, and B: He had serious injury issues in prior years, and in 2012 jumped 6’11, with a plastic boot on his takeoff foot! I barely cleared 6’11 with a normal foot, and 5’10 in a boot would have been incredibly doubtful.
In his wake, Mutaz Barshim, the pre-eminent modern high jump phenom began racking up serious high jump victories and wins. In 2013 at Hayward Field, Eugene Oregon, he cleared 2.40m off an approach speed that could be likened to molasses. At this point, it was only a matter of time until he started making some prime runs at the world record, and run he did.
Barshim and Bondarenko clashed in the most epic high jump battle of all time, in a grand prix meet in New York.
An honorable mention competition between Bondarenko and Barshim also happened in Brussels (video below) with Barshim ending up clearing 2.43m (8 feet) to become the second best high jumper in history behind the legendary Sotomayer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rsO-waG1yU
Slam Dunk Epic Duel: 2015 Jordan Kilganon vs. Lipek
There have been plenty of unreal dunk contests throughout the course of history. Since there isn’t a standard “height” or “distance” criteria, things can get a little trickier to determine where particular contestants are at.
After reading the book “Bounce”, it is easy to see that the money, media exposure, and the idolizing of well-known professionals are the seeds to expert performers in a particular arena, perhaps even more so than improvements in training itself. If athletes in the USA were promised multi-million dollar contracts for being great Olympic weightlifters or hammer throwers, America would quickly find itself a world force in those arenas of competition.
Dunking is getting there. For the first time, there are actually “professional dunkers” that exist, those who earn the primary portion of their living on being able to slam a basketball through a metal ring. The money isn’t great, but the fame is. Dunk channels and groups get millions of hits and views. People love the dunk!
There was recently, in my opinion, the best head to head dunk contest in history, in Jordan Kilganon vs. Rafal “Lipek” Lipinski in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. From scorpion dunks, to foreheads over the rim, this contest was beyond ridiculous, both in terms of athleticism, as well as the dunks that are considered the greatest in terms of raw difficulty.
Didn’t think that was the greatest dunk duel ever? Leave a link to one you think is better in the comments section.
Hope you enjoyed these videos. It is the accomplishments of others that allows us to dream and move forward in our own training and coaching.
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