Britain’s Jazmin Sawyers says a plan by World Athletics to introduce a trial for measuring lengthy bounce take-offs is “not what the occasion wants”.
A take-off zone may very well be trialled rather than the occasion’s conventional wood board, the place a no-jump is named if the athlete’s foot crosses the road.
“I do not assume there may be something mistaken with lengthy bounce, and having the board is a part of the drama,” Sawyers mentioned.
World champion Ivana Spanovic additionally criticised the proposed change.
“The most important downside is that the individuals who change the foundations of this sport are those that have by no means had contact with this sport,” Spanovic mentioned.
“You might be altering the foundations of the sport with out consulting those that make the game exist. You ignore their views, you do not respect their opinion and also you ignore the issues that result in their accidents,” added the Serb.
World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon mentioned the change would imply “that each bounce counts” – with every one measured from the place the athlete’s entrance foot takes off within the zone – and it could “add to the jeopardy and the drama of the competitors”.
Ridgeon advised the Something However Footy podcast {that a} third of all jumps on the 2023 World Championships in Budapest didn’t rely, including: “That does not work, that could be a waste of time.”
European Indoor champion Sawyers responsed to the proposal in a social media video and detailed three potential benefits – together with larger jumps – however eight disadvantages.
Sawyers mentioned the proposal’s potential points embrace its implementation at grassroots stage, the elimination of a vital talent component from the occasion, and a unfavourable affect on drama and spectator expertise.
“I recognize they’re making an attempt to do one thing however that is simply how I view it,” Sawyers mentioned.
“I do not assume this explicit innovation is a good suggestion. I do not assume that is what the lengthy bounce wants.”
Responding to the proposal on social media, eight-time international medallist Spanovic mentioned such measures would “make the competitors much more pointless” and likened the change to operating a 100m race with out a choose.
“Big sums of cash are spent making an attempt to draw consideration to the game whereas ignoring all the things the game rests on,” Spanovic mentioned.
“I consider that the concentrate on sponsorships and tv broadcasts mustn’t come on the expense of the integrity of the game, and it could be nice to discover a steadiness between selling the game and preserving its primary values.”
Their responses adopted that of four-time Olympic lengthy bounce champion Carl Lewis, who wrote on social media: “You are supposed to attend till 1 April for April Fools jokes.”
A World Athletics spokesperson advised BBC Sport it could be testing take-off zones in a number of places all through the outside season.