Agency Report –
German great Malaika Mihambo won a first long jump competition with a take-off zone rather than the traditional board at an indoor meet on Sunday.
Twice world champion and Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Mihambo won with 6.87 metres from Dutch athlete Pauline Hondema who recorded 6.68m.
The competition at the ISTAF Indoors meet in Dusseldorf saw a trial of a 40 centimetres take off zone and jumps measured with the help of cameras from the actual take off point.
The ruling body World Athletics hopes to make the discipline more exciting this way by minimizing the number of foul jumps compared to the traditional system with a 20cm board where jumps were measured from the end of the board.
Some athletes have voiced criticism, saying that being able to hit the board precisely is an important part of the discipline. But Mihambo welcomed the idea after the competition, just as she had also been open for it beforehand.
“I found it interesting but some improvement is needed. There were a few problems with the measurement,” Mihambo told broadcasters ARD.
“But overall the idea is quite nice to have the full zone because a full foot doesn’t fit on the (traditional) board. I found it quite exciting.”
Mihambo had soared a world lead 7.07m at another German meet in Karlsruhe on Friday.
