World Athletics is about to change the rules of the long jump. Nothing will be the same for athletes who are resisting to changes they say could turn the discipline into something completely different by removing the starting board.
For more than a century, since the first games of the modern era in Athens in 1896, the objective of the long jump has remained the same: to gain momentum and jump as far as possible without stepping on the take-off board from which the jumps are measured.
If the athlete steps on the board, the jump is considered invalid and after the judges raise the red flag, the jump is not even measured, as it is considered against the rules and has been “stepped”. This rule could change from 2026 following the decision by World Athletics to remove the controversial 20cm board.
In recent days it has been revealed that World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon has stated that World Athletics is considering removing the take-off board and replacing it with a longer “take-off zone” where each attempt is measured from the jumper’s take-off foot rather than the start of the take-off board, which could significantly change jumping strategies and therefore the discipline as we know it.
This would eliminate the take-off line and stepped jumps, making the measurement of the jump more accurate. By effectively determining where the athlete jumped from and how far they reached into the sand pit, the measurement will accurately reflect the centimetres covered, not just the centimetres from the end of the take-off board to the landing spot in the sand.
There is no doubt that it is fairer and more accurate. Whether it can be guaranteed at World Championships or Olympic Games is another matter. But what about smaller competitions where the latest technology may not be applicable? It didn’t seem easy to ensure fairness in terms of centimetres.
In an attempt to make the event more attractive to spectators in a sport with declining spectator numbers, the elimination of step jumps seems to be the solution to ensure that all jumps count, in addition to greater accuracy in terms of centimetres. With the current rule, measurements are taken from a point that is not necessarily the length of the jump, but rather from the take-off line, which can result in a few centimetres being lost from the count if the athlete jumps a little earlier.
In an effort to modernise the discipline in today’s fast-paced world, where there are constant impulses and stimuli prevail in sport, a change seems necessary to make it more dynamic and fair, without contradicting the core elements of the sport.
“Our sport is 150 years old and there are sacred elements that we want to protect, but there are others that leave the public cold,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe in the Scottish capital on Thursday. “At the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, a third of the jumps will be stepped. As with any change, athletes will have to adapt and it won’t be easy,” he said.
For many athletes, precision is part of the discipline. “The long jump is a balance between risk and control and here they would eliminate the risk… It would be completely different. They want it to be more spectacular, but good luck judging distances when nobody jumps from the same place,” complained France’s Jules Pommery, bronze medallist at the 2022 European Championships.
“Those who make these decisions have no contact with the sport,” complained Serbian world champion Ivana Vuleta, who also lamented that the main stakeholders, the athletes, had not been consulted. World champion Tentoglou was even more critical, threatening to quit the sport if the changes were finalised: “If they remove the starting board, I will leave the long jump.”
After winning the World Indoor Long Jump Championships (8.22m) in Glasgow, Greek athlete Miltiadis Tentoglou strongly criticised the planned reform. “If they remove the board, I won’t do the long jump anymore,” warned the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion.
The reigning world indoor and outdoor long jump champion is angry about the possible change: “I think the long jump is one of the most complicated events because of the starting board and the precision it requires. You have to run like a sprinter and reach the board perfectly… The jump itself is simple, it’s the approach that’s complicated,” explained Tentoglou.
“If they remove the board, the long jump will become the easiest event and if that happens, I will leave the long jump,” concluded the long jump star. Another opponent of the possible removal of the diving board was the legendary Carl Lewis, nine-time Olympic champion and four-time consecutive long jump champion. He described the possible change as a terrible “April nightmare”.
“The new idea of a take-off zone will not increase the length of the jumps. Would all the 8.20m jumps become 8.60m jumps? So what? We have to accept that the world record is at 8.95m and stop ignoring it,” he remarked.
“It is necessary to consult the athletes. They would never agree to change the format. I have heard many opinions, but not from the jumpers. Now every jumper must speak out and make them understand that they will not accept these changes,” said one of the greatest figures in the history of athletics.
Source: Inside The Game
