World Athletics scrap “dog shit” new jumping rules: “like an April Fool’s joke”

The idea was dead on arrival and will now be discarded. World Athletics is abandoning the rule change it planned to introduce in jumping events – a measure aimed at reducing the number of fouls in competition but one that met fierce opposition from athletes.

Miltiadis Tentoglou, an Olympic, world and European champion, bluntly called it “dog shit,” while the legendary Carl Lewis said it “sounds like an April Fool’s joke.” The plan would have eliminated the foul board in its current form and replaced it with a wider takeoff zone.

World Athletics tested the concept at several events and found it reduced fouls by up to 13%. The federation believed the change was needed after a recent study showed that around one-third of competitive jumps are invalid, something they argue dampens fan interest. But implementing it would significantly lower the event’s difficulty, since a key element of jumping is pushing right up to the edge of the board without crossing it to gain every last inch.

That is what provoked the athletes and ultimately forced the federation to rethink. Jon Ridgeon, the federation’s chief executive, explained that if athletes refuse to embrace it, you don’t go to war with one of the sport’s most important groups, even if a problem exists and a viable solution is on the table. If they do not want it, he said, it is dropped – and that, he added, is part of their duty as the governing body.

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