How it works
Competitors sprint along a runway before taking off on a wooden board. Their take-off foot absorbs the first landing, the hop. The next phase, the step, is landed on the opposite foot and is followed by a jump into a sandpit.
The distance travelled – from the ‘foul line’ edge of the board to the ‘mark’ in the sand made closest to it – is then measured. A foul is committed – and the jump is not measured – if an athlete steps beyond the board.
Most championship competitions involve six jumps per competitor, although a number of them, those with the shorter marks, are often eliminated after three jumps.
If competitors are tied, the winner will be the athlete with the second-longest jump, and so on.
History
The origins can be traced to an ancient form of the event that included three successive long jumps. At the inaugural Modern Olympics (1896) the event consisted of two hops and a jump. But at the next Games it was changed to its current format: a hop, a skip, a jump – hence its alternative name.
Did you know
When Britain’s Jonathan Edwards set a world record to win the 1995 World Championships he jumped a distance in excess of the width of a football penalty box: 18.29m.
Gold standard
The USA has a powerful pedigree in this discipline with six Olympic golds among its haul. Poland, Brazil, Great Britain and Russia also have strong traditions.
The current female Olympic champion, Francoise Mbango Etone, is the first athlete from Cameroon to win Olympic, Commonwealth and World Championships medals.
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Jonathan Edwards
The Brit with the beautifully poised technique set the world record - 18.29m - when winning the first of his two world titles in 1995 (the second came in 2001). He also took Olympic gold in Sydney (2000) and silver in Atlanta (1996).
Tatyana Lebedeva
The eye-catchingly coiffed Russian is a three-time world champion (2001 and 2003, plus the 2004 indoor championships) and revealed her stunning consistency by winning the IAAF’s $1m Golden League jackpot in 2005. She is also an Olympic (2004) and world (2007) long jump champion.