18 October 1968 was a terrible start for Bob Beamon, an American athlete who missed his first two jumps in the qualifying for the long jump final at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. It was morning and the 1967 Pan Am Games silver medallist was unable to concentrate. 

On his third attempt, there was no room for error. He needed to be around 7.70 to qualify, and a third mistake would have sent him out. The prodigious athlete from Jamaica, New York, jumped 8.19 metres to book his ticket with the second best mark behind his countryman Ralph Boston (8.27, new Olympic record), who had won the Olympic gold in Rome in 1960 and the silver in Tokyo in 1964. 

Five hours later, Bob Beamon created one of the most epic moments in Olympic history, like Jessie Owens celebrating his gold medals in front of Adolf Hitler in Berlin in 1936, Mark Spitz winning six gold medals in Munich in 1972 or Nadia Comaneci performing the first ever perfect routine in artistic gymnastics in Montreal in 1976. 

8.90 metres at the first attempt! An Olympic record that still stands and a world record that Beamon held until the astonishing final of the 1991 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, where his compatriot Mike Powell jumped 8.95 metres and another great American star, Carl Lewis, 8.91 metres. 

Now, 56 years later, Bob Beamon has sold his gold medal in a growing market for sports memorabilia, with experts at Christie's valuing it at between $400,000 and $600,000. "It's time for me to pass it on," the 77-year-old told AFP ahead of Thursday's Christie's auction in New York, almost 56 years after that magical afternoon in Mexico at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario. 

"The auction was an excellent way to showcase the medal, but also to preserve the memory of it. I'm hoping it will go to a buyer who understands the importance of sporting achievement," the 77-year-old told AFP ahead of the Christie's auction in New York on Thursday. 

Christie's declined to say who had bought the medal, which fetched a hammer price of $350,000 - before taxes and auction house fees. It was one of the several lots sold as part of Christie's "Exceptional Sale," which raised $6.8 million and included a painting of the Beatles. 

Beamon said he still remembers the "extraordinary day" of 18 October 1968, after almost missing out on his option by going over the line in his first two qualifying jumps. 

But "everything was perfect for me that day. The wind was perfect, and the weather when I jumped was perfect. It rained right after. I made a couple of mistakes in the qualifying and I wanted to make sure that I had a fair jump in the final, a legal jump. To my surprise, it was not just a jump, it was an incredible moment in history," he remarked.