World Athletics to trial a new take-off for long jump

World Athletics chief executive Jon Ridgeon has revealed plans to trial a new format for the long jump.

The trial would see the take-off board replaced by a "take-off zone" and would measure the distance between where the athlete takes off and where they land in the pit.

Ridgeon explained that data from last year's World Athletics Championships in Budapest showed that one third of all jumps were no-jumps due to athletes overstepping and suggested that new proposals can add to the "jeopardy" and "drama" of the competition.

Speaking to the Anything But Footy podcast, Ridgeon said: "At the World Championships in Budapest last summer, a third of all the jumps were no-jumps, athletes stepping over the front of the take-off board.

"That doesn't work, that's a waste of time. We're testing, for example, at the moment a 'take-off zone' rather than a take-off board, so we measure from where the athlete takes off to where they land in the pit.

"That means every single jump counts, it adds to the jeopardy of the competition and the drama of the competition.

"At the same time we're working out ways of how we can get instant results, so you don't have to wait 20 or 30 seconds before the result pops up, we get it instantly and just how we speed up the competition."

Ridgeon was speaking about the long-jump proposals as part of a wider plan by World Athletics to grow and modernise sports, especially field events.

He explained that the long-jump innovations would be tested in real life and acknowledged that any potential changes will not be "without some controversy".

"We're also going to spend this year testing it in real-life circumstances with very good athletes, and if it doesn't pass testing we'll never introduce it," Ridgeon added.

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