I’m not a fan of how jumping events in athletic competitions/The Olympics are done. Too much of it is about run up and leg positions. The three jumping events (I’m not including pole vault, that’s fine) should all be done differently:
Long jump: two-footed jump from a standing start. No running, no fuss
High jump: standing start, two footed jump onto the highest box. None of this fancy flopping
Triple jump: ideally shouldn’t exist, as it’s extraneous, but if we must have it then standing start off one foot, hop-skip-jump as per
I’d be far more impressed by someone jumping onto a 2m-high box that running up and flopping over a bar. These are just better events!
ETA: thank you all for your kind feedback. I have refined my position:
The 3 events would be replaced with a single jumping event. Competitors would all like up in front of, basically, an obstacle course – platforms increasingly far apart, horizontally and/or vertically. There would also be triple jump sections. No run ups but you can use momentum from previous jumps. Whoever gets further on the course wins. May chuck a pole vaulting section in too. Does anyone have Peter Thiel’s number?
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Finally, a true unpopular opinion.
Be cool if they weren’t allowed to fall
There was a standing jump event at the olympics many years ago. I’m not sure why it fell out of favour:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_long_jump
I like your events regardless of whether they replace or are supplemental to the existing events. And yeah they probably are better, or at least more raw and less influenced by technique.
You are just describing different events. So you really aren’t advocating for changing how long jump is done, you’re advocating for replacing the long jump with the standing long jump in competitions, for example.
Imagine wanting something to be more boring and less skillful lol. What a pointless opinion.
Maybe a combination event of height and distance of some kind
I dont think it is so much that they want to judge all the running and hopping, but the running and hopping is how you jump the farthest and the highest. Triple jump doesnt have much of a leg to stand on, but long jump and high jump are simply “who can jump the highest/longest” which is nice and simple and in the spirit of competition.
I wouldnt mind seeing static jumps added, though, because that would be neat.
Pretty sure all these disciplines exist and have some official name, probably records too. You aren’t going to get the existing jumps replaced quick though as these would be very dry to watch!