# @gettyimages on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/CIbDyQDgj3N
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/16445704-gettyimages-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/da0a4eb045.jpg
- **Posted:** 2020-12-05T16:29:12.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Getty Images (@GettyImages) — https://gondola.cc/GettyImages

## Caption

2020 marks 25 years of Getty Images, although the collections in our care trace a far longer history. Today, gettyarchive explores the image that kick-started one of our founding agencies.⁠
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Bob Beamon leaps into history at the Mexico City Olympics on 18 October, 1968. Reaching a distance of 8.9m (29ft 2.5"), the U.S athlete won the gold medal and set a new world record - the first long jump over 28ft.⁠
There to suspend Beamon forever elevated, was aspiring photographer Tony Duffy. The English accountant had chanced a holiday to the Olympic Games in Mexico City and, in a marked contrast to the tightly-controlled access of today, talked his way closer to the action. Making his way to the front row of a half-empty stadium, the amateur was still set apart from the professionals, the majority of whom were focused on the 400m final. Proving it takes more than an eye and the right kit to make it as a photographer, Duffy had used the same tenacity to find his way into the Olympic Village; in a borrowed tracksuit with his ears open, he had heard that the long jump event would bring the day’s drama. ⁠
Photographed from a distance of 50ft on his Nikkormat camera, the resulting frame was sharp and succinct. Developed at a one-hour photo kiosk, it launched a decades-long career for Duffy, who founded the Allsport agency soon after with John Starr. A challenging discipline, the agency didn’t just recruit sports photographers, but specialists in their field, be it athletics, motoring or cricket.⁠
Acquired by Getty Images in 1998, our Archive houses over a million of the Allsport originals, including that very first 35mm negative - swipe to view. The foundation for gettysport, our photographers still push the boundaries of technical and creative accomplishment in the drive to capture speed, agility and precision in a single frame. ⁠
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📷: Tony Duffy/Allsport l #GettyImages25 #PreservingThePast #GettyArchive ⁠
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#GettySport #TonyDuffy #BobBeamon #SportsPhotography #SportsHistory #OlympicGames #OlympicHistory #MexicoCity68 #LongJump #GettyImages⁠

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## Tags

gettysport, preservingthepast, olympicgames, sportshistory, tonyduffy, gettyimages, bobbeamon, gettyarchive, longjump, sportsphotography, gettyimages25, mexicocity68, olympichistory

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