Track Shorts

Perhaps it was Mexico City's high altitude that produced such rarefied records, three of them, at the 1968 Games: Bob Beamon's 29-ft. 2 1/2-in. long jump, Lee Evans' 43.86-sec. 400 meters and the U.S.'s 2:56.16 in the 4 X 400- meter relay. They are still three of track and field's greatest achievements.

But this Olympic year one has fallen at last, and the thers could be in jeopardy. Last month American Harry ("Butch") Reynolds ran a blitzing 43.29 400 in Zurich to break Evans' mark. He will try to better that in Seoul. And he figure 3/4s to anchor a strong 4 X 400 relay team that experts think could have a chance at the 1968 mark. Then, says Reynolds, 24, his goal after the Games is to meet his hero Evans, who is coaching sprinters in Cameroon.

Beamon's record will be the toughest to overtake. The jump was almost surreal. In the 33 years since Jesse Owens jumped 26 ft. 8 1/4 in., the mark had increased only 8 1/2 in. In one leap, Beamon raised it by nearly 2 ft. Since then, Carl Lewis has jumped over 28 ft. 22 times without a disqualifying trailing wind. Only eight other legal 28-ft. jumps have been recorded. Lewis' best is 4 1/4 in. short of Beamon's. Although he has won 55 consecutive long- jump competitions, Lewis is also well remembered for passing his last four jumps at the '84 Games, when the gold medal was his but the record wasn't. "The event that means the most to me is the long jump," says Lewis. "I was never really aiming for the record. That was just a media thing. I'm still aiming to improve. I would like to hit 29 ft. and go from there." From there, it is still precisely 2 1/2 in. farther.