In what could be a significant shift to the long-standing sport, a new long jump “take off zone” was tested at the indoor athletics meet in Duesseldorf on Sunday.

The line on the conventional board that jumps must be made behind is replaced by the reform.

Instead, a 40-centimeter “take off zone” will be used to measure the jump’s distance using cameras from where the foot left the ground, greatly lowering the possibility of invalid jumps.

With a 6.87-meter leap, German 2020 Olympic gold medallist Malaika Mihambo won the competition, her third win in three outings this year.

“I definitely found it interesting,” she said to Germany’s ARD network, adding the change was “exciting.”

“You could see a few things that need to be worked on, but I actually think it’s a great idea.”

The traditional board was also used by the organisers of the Duesseldorf meet to measure the athletes’ jumps.

The ‘take off zone’ score of Mihambo was nearly half a metre higher than her typical score of 6.39, which included four invalid jumps.

The 31-year-old however recorded a 7.07-metre jump under standard conditions in Karlsruhe on Friday and told reporters on Sunday she was “simply very tired.” It is as yet unclear whether World Athletics will introduce the new measure at major competitions such as the Olympics.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe has advocated for changes, saying spectators get bored when athletes register invalid jumps.

Coe stated in Duesseldorf prior to Sunday’s competition that “about a third of the jumps were invalid at the 2023 World Championships.”

“Our sport dates back 150 years. We wish to preserve certain things that cannot be touched. However, there are other places that make onlookers uncomfortable.

Nonetheless, the reform has drawn criticism. On social media, American long jump champion Carl Lewis, who won gold in four consecutive Olympics from 1984 to 1996, referred to the idea as a “April fools joke” when it was revealed in 2024.

Adding a take-off zone, according to Lewis, “would eliminate the most difficult skill from the event.”