Long Jump

Long jump is one of the most recognized events in the world of athletic field events. This sport requires competitors to combine agility, strength and speed with the objective to win by landing within a designated area with the farthest possible distance from the take-off point. Jesse Owens’ long jump is perhaps one of the most recognized ever, creating a world record in the year 1935 and was not broken until the year 1960.

Then, there was 'The Jump" of Bob Beamon who jumped 8.90 meters in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico. It was one of the longest standing records in track and field. Carl Lewis’ long jump was also very remarkable, and this gave him several Olympic medals and other prestigious accolades related to this sports field event. Meanwhile, the current long jump world record holder as of the present is Mike Powell, and he did his world record long jump in the year 1991 at the Tokyo World Championships where he leapt a staggering 8.95 meters. Up to now, this long jump record still remains unbroken.

The history of long jump began when it became one of the events of the original Olympic event that was held in Greece. Chionis, a Greek man, reportedly leapt a very astounding total distance of seven meters and five centimeters. Ever since, long jump has always been a part of any common field sports event participated by both male and female athletes from all over the world. However, the Olympic women’s long jump was not really been contested until it was finally included in 1928 as one of the sport events where women can readily participate.

All long jump players undergo a series of long jump drills in order to prepare them for this very rigorous endurance and skill sport. There are actually some training schools all over the world that offer free training on long jumping and some athletic scholarships in an attempt to attract and train more people to be a professional long jumper. Typical long jump training will usually require jumpers to do different muscle exercises for the legs and for the upper body in order to strengthen the players’ body’s and increase their own respective levels of stamina and speed. They are also being accustomed to the nature of the long jump runway, where they will spend most of their time running and taking off.

However, a jumper isn’t limited to what can be done because you can also create your own long jump technique if it helps you to perform better than other competitors. The shoes that the jumper will be using are also very critical but some professional long jumpers prefer Nike long jump shoes over other brands.