The athletics community is in a state of flux as a proposed rule change divides the fans. The World Athletics’ decision to do away with the “take-off zone” has irked track and field athletes and fans alike, and former stars are also weighing in on the matter. Only days ago, nine-time Olympic gold winner Carl Lewis slammed the regulatory changes, bashing them as a blatant disregard for the athlete’s needs. And now, he’s joined by another icon of the sport.

Four-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson and Lewis don’t always see eye to eye. However, the latest fiasco might be just the thing that sees the two former athletes put their differences aside for the time being.

Olympic phenoms reject proposed changes

In a recent X (previously known as Twitter) post by Johnson, he has finally taken a stand on the ongoing saga surrounding the rules of the Olympic event. The apex body of the sport announced last month that several regulatory changes are expected to be implemented in future long jump events and not all athletes are looking forward to the new dawn. Amidst the tension, Johnson has taken to social media to state, “The problem with this entire Long Jump debate is a lack of agreement/understanding of the problem“.

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To back up his thoughts, Johnson shared a post by Lewis where the Olympic history-maker doesn’t hold back on his words. In his post, Lewis claimed that the experts of the sport often don’t have a proper understanding of the issue themselves.

Sharing a video clip that aims to explain the proposed changes, Carl blatantly hit back at the World Athletics, “I’m so over this debate… Would all of these so-called “experts” please go somewhere and sit down.” And Lewis’ words seem to have resonated with the former sprinter Johnson as well.

Lewis wrote that farther distances cannot be advocated for and Johnson also thinks it’s important to understand “…if indeed there is actually a problem.“. This is not the first time Lewis has turned vocal about it. When the idea of the rule change was just floated, Lewis had written, “The issue has nothing to do with fouling. They are no longer trying to jump far. We jumped differently. That’s why we jumped farther. So the board change will hurt the distances in the long run.” Apart from him, a 4x Olympian also spoke along similar lines.

In a direct jab at the apex body, 2023 World Champion Ivana Španović had said, “The biggest problem is that people who change the rules of this sport are precisely the people who have never had any contact with the sport.” However, to properly comprehend the hostility from the legendary Olympic figures, it’s crucial to grasp the change that’s anticipated to become the norm soon.

Proposed changes: pros and cons

The World Athletics claimed that the proposed changes come from the desire to modernize the sport while also reinstating its elite status among sports fans. As per the new rules, competitive tournaments are likely to see fewer disqualifications and no-fouls because of the take-off zone being done away with entirely.

Instead, a new “jump zone” will legalize all jumps, and the measurements are proposed to be done accordingly. While greater distances are expected to take over the scoreboards soon, the changes have also been alleged to make way for reduced skill levels. But The World Athletics chief executive, Jon Ridgeon, had different views about it.

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“it adds to the jeopardy of the competition, the drama of the competition,” Ridgeon had said in favor of the change. While plenty of debate still makes the situation murky, it remains to be seen if the community ultimately embraces or rejects the changes. What do you think the changes will entail and how are those likely to impact the long jump?

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