The world governing body says it does not want to go to war with athletes.
World Athletics has shelved plans to introduce a flight zone for the long jump and possibly the triple jump after widespread opposition from athletes and coaches.
It Keeper The paper reports that John Ridgeon, World Athletics’ chief executive, said that while the proposals had gone well in trials, “you don’t want to go to war with your most important group of people”.
Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglu and four-time long jump Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis were particularly critical of the plans, which: aimed to remove the traditional board.
“The reality is that athletes don’t want to accept it,” Ridgeon said Keeper. “So we’re not going to do that, you’re not going to be at war with your most important group of people after all.
READ MORE. Get ready for a flight argument
“While I would argue that we’ve identified a problem and come up with a viable solution, if the athletes don’t want it, well, we leave it. But I don’t regret looking at it. I think that’s our job as a governing body.
“From the emotional reaction of the crowd, they lose energy without flying,” Ridgeon added. “So we said, can we solve the issue of that exam?” And we created the concept of a wider flight zone.” We tested that solution and it actually tested well.”
Criticism first erupted when Ridgeon mentioned the idea in an interview. It was then discussed at the 2024 World Indoor Championships presentation in Glasgow, where several coaches voiced their concerns.
Ridgeon continued. “We will be accused of being asleep at the wheel if we don’t look for weaknesses.
“Long jump is a really exciting and vibrant part of our sport. But our task is to break the boundaries and say: That’s what we’re trying to do. Where I was a little disappointed is that everyone just jumped on that one thing when we were looking at four or five things to improve and speed up the long jump.
“They include simple things like getting the officials to dig the hole faster. We are also working with Seiko to create a concept called Instant Results. When you land in a sand pit at this point, it can take up to 20 seconds to get the result. We’re running less than five seconds.”
