Bob Beamon's monumental long jump of 8.90m at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games
both delighted and frustrated the sport's statisticians. Although accepted as the world record,
there was no doubt that Beamon's jump had been assisted by the rarefied atmosphere of
Mexico City's high altitude. Considering that Beamon himself never again approached his
Mexico City record, people justifiably started to talk about the 'sea-level' or 'non-altitude'
world record. In addition, for those who think in terms of imperial measurement, Beamon's
jump had taken the world record from 27ft 4 3/4in to 29ft 2 1/2in. He had broken the 29ft
barrier but in the process had bypassed the 28ft barrier.
Statisticians were thus awaiting the first 'non-altitude' 28ft jump, and one of the men chasing
that honour was Lutz Dombrowski. Dombrowski was hooked on soccer as a young boy,
but quickly blossomed as a long and triple jump talent by the age of 14. Lutz advanced steadily,
but there was a marked improvement in his performances during 1979, when he represented
East Germany at the World Cup in Montreal. Lutz led with a jump of 8.27m until the final round,
when he lost the gold medal to Larry Myricks (USA). Dombrowski's finest moment was
undoubtedly at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow.
He jumped 8.31m in the second round, which would eventually prove to be enough to win the
gold medal (see photo above at victory ceremony). However, on his fifth jump, he soared a
prodigious 8.54m, or 28ft 0 1/4in, to break the 'non-altitude' world record. Dombrowski was
hampered by injury in 1981, and only finished 6th at the World Cup in Rome, but he rebounded
in 1982 to win the European title in Athens with a wind-assisted 8.41m. However, his career quickly
faded after then, and he did not compete in another major championship. (Ron Casey)
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Weitsprung Endrunde (Männer). Olympische Spiele 1980
1980 Olympic Games men's long jump final. Moscow, Russia.
1. Lutz DOMBROWSKI] (GDR) 8.54m
2. Frank PASCHEK (GDR) 8.21m
3. Valery PIDLUZHNY (SOV) 8.18m
4. Laszlo SZALMA (HUN) 8.13m
5. Stanislav JASKULKA (POL) 8.13m
6. Viktor BELSKY (SOV) 8.10m
7. Antonio CORGOS (SPA) 8.09m
8. Yordan YANEV (BUL) 8.02m
Weitsprung Endrunde (Männer). Europameisterschaft 1982
1982 Europaean Champs men's long jump final.
Athens, Greece.
1. Lutz DOMBROWSKI] (GDR) 8.41m
2. Antonio CORGOS (SPA) 8.19m
3. Jan LEITNER (CZE) 8.08m
4. Zdenek MAZUR (TCH) 8.08m
5. Nenad STEKIC (YUG) 7.93m
6. Giovanni EVANGELISTI (ITA) 7.89m
In 1991, researcher Brigitte Berendonk found doctoral theses recording state run
doping in the GDR.
Among the list of doped athletes was the name of Dombrowski.
