Long jump

Women's Long Jump Final - 28th Summer Universiade 2015

See the main article: Track and field athletics

A long jump at the Naval Academy, Annapolis

The long jump is a sport in track and field athletics, where athletes compete by comparing lengths of their jumps where athletes try to jump as far as they can. For this, the athlete runs down the runway to the jumping pit which is made of soft sand. If a person falls backwards when jumping, this can decrease the length of their jump.

Rules

Long jump is a sport in which, the athlete who jumps the longest by legal means, wins. The athlete begins running from his or her starting position and after attaining sufficient velocity, jumps, landing in a sand pit, which is fitted with distance markers. There is a foul line, in the run-up area, that the athlete has to be aware of; jumping from beyond this line results in a ‘foul jump’. Jumpers try to get as close to the foul line as legally possible before initiating their jump.

Related pages

• High jump
• Triple jump

Other websites

• Powell vs Lewis Tokyo 91 (video)