Bengaluru
World Athletics’ ambitious attempt to modernise the long jump — by replacing the classic take-off board with a 40-centimetre “take-off zone” — has quietly been put on hold after sustained resistance from elite athletes, despite encouraging pilot results.
The proposal, first floated in early 2024, aimed to reduce the sport’s biggest irritant: foul jumps. Under the new format, an athlete’s jump would be measured from the exact point of take-off within the broader zone rather than a fixed board. Trials during last season’s indoor events suggested the change had potential. The foul rate, which typically hovers around one-third of all attempts, dropped to nearly a third of that during testing. Spectator feedback, too, leaned slightly in favour of the revamped system.
But numbers weren’t enough to convince those who matter most. India’s Murali Sreeshankar — reigning Commonwealth and Asian Games silver medallist — recalled that the global meeting of long jumpers was unanimously opposed to the reform.
“Everyone was against it,” he said. “Long jump is a technical, skill-based event. With a broader board, you take away the beauty of the event — the precision, the challenge. Fouls reduced, yes, but there weren’t many big jumps.”
Opposition was even fiercer abroad. Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou slammed the proposal publicly and warned he would quit the sport if it became permanent. With voices of that stature refusing to budge, the rule’s path forward faded quickly.
Long jump icon and AFI senior official Anju Bobby George offered a deeper, emotional perspective. “Accuracy is the key. I lost many big jumps due to fouls — that unpredictability is the beauty of the event. Fans feel that tension too,” she said. For her, acceptance of change was the real stumbling block.
Ultimately, World Athletics backed off, shelving the take-off zone indefinitely. In a sport where precision defines identity, even well-intentioned reforms struggle to clear the bar.
