Who broke Bob Beamon's long jump world record in Tokyo in 1991?

Mike Powell broke Bob Beamon’s long jump world record in Tokyo in 1991.

Powell made the historic 8.95-metre jump on 30 August 1991 at the World Championships in Athletics. His leap surpassed Beamon’s 8.90-metre mark, set at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, by 5 centimetres. Beamon’s record had stood for almost 23 years and was widely regarded as one of sport’s most extraordinary achievements.

The Tokyo final became an especially famous duel because Powell defeated Carl Lewis, who had won four consecutive world long jump titles and was unbeaten in the event for roughly a decade. Lewis produced several enormous jumps, including a wind-assisted 8.91 metres, but Powell’s 8.95 metres was legal, with a tailwind of only 0.3 metres per second.

The record was not an Olympic record because the performance occurred at a World Championships, not the Games. That distinction is a common source of confusion: Beamon set his mark at an Olympics, while Powell broke it at a world championship.