- World Athletics is considering drastic and controversial changes to long jump
- Jazmine Sawyers warned the proposed changes were a bad idea.
- The proposal would see the standard take-off board replaced with a jump zone.
Top British long jumper Jazmyn Sawyers has told World Athletics to leave her competition alone after criticizing plans to replace take-off boards with take-off zones.
As detailed by Mail Sport on Monday, the sport’s governing body is considering radical changes to the ancient discipline to reduce the number of no-jumps.
The proposal aims to give athletes a larger area on the runway to launch their jumps instead of taking off from a fixed board. Instead, overstepping results in a foul.
Instead of the board acting as a universal starting point, jumps will be measured from where the competitor’s front foot actually takes off in the zone to where it lands in the pit.
World Athletics is trialling the idea with the aim of introducing it to elite competitions from 2026 if the tests are successful. But Sawyers believes this concept is fundamentally flawed.
“I don’t think this particular innovation is a good idea,” said the European indoor champion. “Can we stop messing with the long jump?” Can you just leave us alone? I don’t think this is necessary for the long jump. ”
On Instagram, Sawyers listed two positive aspects of the idea – fewer fouls and more jumps – while listing eight negative points. This included removing key elements of the skill and making it difficult for the audience to follow the events.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the long jump,” the 29-year-old said. “Part of the skill is that you have to hit the board. If you remove it, the event changes completely.
“I don’t think you can compare old records to new records then. If some of your skills don’t hit the board, I think it’s going to be a different event.
“I think having a board meeting is part of the drama. Was it foul? Was it not foul? That drama is removed and we’re doing something different.
“My last two cons have to do with the audience experience. I think this takes a lot out of the enjoyment of the event.
“You can no longer have superimposed lines on your TV when someone goes over a winning jump.
“Because everyone takes off from a different place, there was no indication of when they landed, whether or not they were ahead of the person in front of them. To me, that detracts from the viewing experience.”
Sawyers also questioned how the takeoff zone would work at the grassroots level, where athletes don’t have the technology to accurately measure jumps like the elites.
“At the grassroots level, you’re going to need someone to monitor exactly where that person is taking off from,” she added. “That’s a lot harder than determining if someone crossed the foul line.
“In a sport that has certain challenges, we want to do everything we can to encourage grassroots sport, not make it even more difficult.”