A new long jump ‘take off zone’ has been trialled at the indoor athletics meet in Duesseldorf on Sunday in what may become a notable change to the long-established sport.
The reform replaces the line on the traditional board behind which jumps must be made.
Instead, the distance of the jump will be measured using cameras from where the foot left the ground in a 40-centimetre ‘take off zone’, significantly reducing the risk of invalid jumps.
German 2020 Olympic gold medallist, Malaika Mihambo, won the event with a 6.87-metre jump, her third victory in three appearances this year.
At the Duesseldorf meet, the organisers also measured athletes’ jumps using the traditional board.
Mihambo’s ‘take off zone’ mark was almost half a metre better than her traditional result of 6.39, where she had four invalid jumps.
The 31-year-old however recorded a 7.07-metre jump under standard conditions in Karlsruhe on Friday and told reporters on Sunday she was “simply very tired.”
It is as yet unclear whether World Athletics will introduce the new measure at major competitions such as the Olympics.
World Athletics President, Sebastian Coe, has advocated for changes, saying spectators get bored when athletes register invalid jumps.
Before Sunday’s event, Coe said in Duesseldorf “at the 2023 World Championships, around a third of the jumps were invalid.”
“Our sport is 150 years old. There are untouchable elements that we want to protect. But there are also areas that leave spectators cold.”
The reform has however faced criticism.
American great Carl Lewis, who won long jump gold at four straight Olympics from 1984 to 1996, called the plan an “April fool’s joke” on social media when the plans were announced in 2024.
Lewis said introducing a take-off zone “would eliminate the most difficult skill from the event.”
—SuperSport