“This is not fair!”, Radioed the long jumper Ruswahl Samaai after he won the Diamond League long jump in Stockholm on Sunday evening. “This doesn’t create tension. It only brings disappointment. ”Samaai, third in the World Cup from South Africa, had jumped 8.09 meters in the sixth and final round and thus, miracle of modernization, surpassed the Swede Thobias Montler, who had reached 8.13 meters twice in the competition .
In Stockholm there was the innovation “Best of Three”, which should captivate TV viewers: After five rounds, only the best three are allowed to continue. As in a jump-off, it is not the previous performance that decides, but only the result of this sixth attempt. Montler came to 8.06 meters. The Finn Kristian Pulli, who had previously jumped 8.02 meters, stepped over and finished third.
“I am happy with my four jumps over eight meters,” commented Montler. “But I’m not so happy with the new rule.” Samaai tweeted: “I won the competition for a format that is not fair to the one with the greatest width.” He asked the World Athletics Association: “Can we please stop fixing things that aren’t broken. ”He tweeted,“ If you’re a true competitor, that kind of ‘win’ will always feel hollow. ”That’s how he feels, wrote Samaai.
The long jump made almost more headlines than world and European champion Karsten Warholm, who came closer to the world record than anyone before over 400 meter hurdles in 46.87 seconds. The American Kevin Young has set the best time of 46.78 seconds since the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, longer than any other runner on an Olympic distance. An hour and a half after his victory, Warholm won the 400 meters in 45.05 seconds.
The new rule also changed the result in the women’s long jump. The Ukrainian Maryna Bekh-Romantschuk won with 6.85 meters ahead of the Colombian triple jump Olympic champion Caterine Ibargüen with 6.61 meters. Third was the Swede Khaddi Sagnia; Although she had reached 6.83 meters in the second round, the second best distance, she only came to 5.73 meters in the decision.
The German director of the Diamond League, Petr Št’astný, defended the rule change to the BBC. “This format rewards athletes who can perform under the greatest pressure,” he said. “We believe that it will bring more excitement to the competitions, as nothing is decided until the very last attempt.”
Long jump Olympic champion Tianna Bartoletta criticized: “This is not an innovation, but a mess.” Athletes and their efforts would be sacrificed in the hope that spectators would be more interested in an exciting moment than in the entire, exciting competition. The athletics union Athletics Association, founded by triple jump Olympic champion Christian Taylor when, among others, his discipline was removed from the Diamond League program, said that 87 percent of the athletes surveyed were against the concept of “Final Three”; it is disrespectful to the competition.
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