World Athletics scraps takeoff zone to avoid 'war' with long jumpers

World Athletics has scrapped plans to introduce a takeoff zone for the long jump rather than the traditional board because of widespread hostility from athletes. Jon Ridgeon, the governing body's chief executive, said that while the proposals had gone well in trials, "you ultimately do not want to go to war with your most important group of people".

- Sean Ingle

The idea of introducing a wide takeoff zone was to reduce the number of foul jumps with athletes no longer required to try to hit a narrow board before jumping into the sand pit. However the Olympic long-jump champion, Miltiadis Tentoglou, described the proposal as "dog shit" because it took much of the skill out of the event, while the former track and field athlete Carl Lewis, who won four Olympic long-jump medals, called it an "April fool's joke".