Carl Lewis: Why World Athletics wants to get rid of takeoff board in long jump and triple jump

Nine-time Olympic gold medalist, Carl Lewis believes World Athletics will not succeed in its plan to get rid of the takeoff board in long jump and triple jump, replacing it with a jump zone.

Lewis also revealed the reason behind the move by the international governing body for the sport.

‘I don’t think they’ll achieve what they’re aiming for. There won’t be fewer fouls like they expect. Honestly, I think the main reason is that they don’t believe anyone can beat Mike Powell’s (world) record (8.95m), so they want to reset things,’ Lewis said in an interview with Spanish sports paper, AS.

The American legend believes it is an insult to the jumpers and wants them to vooce their displeasure with the move,

‘ It’s an insult to the jumpers, and I think they should speak out and say, ‘If you change this, we won’t jump because you’re telling us we’re not good enough.’ But since they’re not doing that, it’s easy to change the rules. Now, it’s up to the athletes.

‘Plus, there are very few places that can implement this. It won’t work in high schools, universities, or many countries. So, when will they do it? Only at World Championships and the Olympics? It’s going to be very tough to put into practice.’

Lewis also spoke about why there are very few athletes who combine sprinting with jumping nowadays.

‘I find it disappointing too, to be honest. But if someone wants to compete in both sprinting and long jump, they need to start as a jumper because that’s the harder event. Most of today’s athletes don’t see the long jump as being as important as sprinting, so they don’t even try.

I’n my opinion, long jump is much more challenging, and these guys just aren’t interested or willing to work as hard to master it the way we used to.

‘The long jump is a more difficult event. It’s disappointing that there are no athletes doing both anymore. Today’s athletes aren’t interested, and they don’t have the desire to work as hard,’ he said and regards himself first as a jumper.

‘I was always a long jumper. I was a long jumper who could run. If I had to give up all the events except one, I’d keep the long jump. That’s where I worked the hardest because I was always competing against myself.

‘I think that’s how you really improve before you start measuring yourself against the best in the world. One of the keys to success is believing in yourself.’