Dhyan Chand and Beamon, the two anatomies of greatness

August 29 marks the birth anniversary of two former icons to have thrived in their respective sports and win their country the highest sporting accomplishment - a gold medal at the Olympics. India's hockey wizard, Major Dhyan Chand and former American long jumper Bob Beamon share birthdays today, two phenomenal athletes who put their country on the map back when the world continued to be plagued by wars and political bloodshed.Beamon turns 70, whereas Dhyan Chand would have been 110 years old.
In honour of Dhyan Chand, August 29 is also celebrated as National Sports Day, when various sporting honours are bestowed upon athletes from India. Known for his sublime goal-scoring laurels and extraordinary ball control, Dhyan Chand is regarded as the greatest field hockey player of all time. More so for earning three gold medals for India during the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics, a feat that made India a force to reckon with in hockey. Having scored more than 400 goals during his international career, Dhyan Chand would go on to play till 1948, at which time he was 42. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956 by the Indian government for his splendid contribution to Indian hockey and continues to be in the fray for being conferred the Bharat Ratna.
Greatness was something Dhyan Chand was destined for. Initially his focus laying more on wrestling, it wasn't until the age of 14 that Dhyan Chand took up hockey and only on his maiden international tour of New Zealand in 1926, scored 10 goals out of 20 in one match. A year later, he would score 36 of 72 Indian goals in 10 matches at the London Folkestone Festival. In the final of the 1928 Olympics, Dhyan Chand netted two of the three Indian goals in the final against the Netherlands. He had also topped the chart with 14 goals. At the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, Dhyan Chand scored 12 goals in two matches as India won gold again. A third straight Hockey title at the Games was captured when he took the field barefoot in the second half of the final against Germany and helped India win 8-1.
India's last hockey gold before Independence was incidentally the same Games where a certain Jesse Owens from America won four Olympic gold medals, a feat unparalleled back in the day. However, it wasn't until 32 years later that another USA track and field athlete would take home a world record. Entering the 1968 games in Mexico City, Beamon took the proverbial 'leap of faith' and recorded a then world-record jump of 8.90 m (29 feet, two-and-a-half inches).
Before the '68 Games, Beamon had set a national high school triple jump record in '65 and won the AAU indoor title, earning a silver medal at the Pan American Games in '67. 10 days after the Mexican army had massacred protestors in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in the Tlatelolco area of Mexico City, Beamon took 19 strides down the runway, rose to a height of six feet and in six seconds, leaped into history. Mike Powell overtook him by 0.5 meters in Japan in 1991 but that wouldn't happen for another 23 years.
Following the announcer declaring the distance of his jump, it is believed that Beamon's legs gave way and he suffered a brief cataplexy attack triggered by an emotional shock after which he collapsed to his knees. Shortly after Mexico, Beamon was drafted by the Phoenix Suns in the 15th round of the 1969 NBA draft. Beamon was included in the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1983.
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