Lewis sees long jump popularity decline

– US long jump legend Carl Lewis (right) does not see any immediate progression in what he dubbed the “toughest” of all field events, questioning the mental fortitude of easily distracted, up-and-coming athletes.

Lewis won four consecutive Olympic long jump golds between 1984-96, as well as two world titles.

He went unbeaten in the event for a decade before famously being beaten by Mike Powell at the 1991 world championships in Tokyo in what has been dubbed one of the most thrilling field face-offs in history.

It took Powell to leap a world record of 8.95 metres to win that day, beating Bob Beamon’s 8.90m set at altitude at the 1968 Mexico

Games – and still an Olympic record.

Powell’s effort and Lewis’ two final jumps in Tokyo remain the three longest distances ever recorded at low altitude.

“Why is the long jump not popular? Because no one’s jumping far,” the outspoken Lewis said of the perceived decline in interest in the discipline.

Illustrating Lewis’ point Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou won the Olympic title in Tokyo with a best of 8.41m and took gold at last year’s world outdoor championships with a mark of 8.52m.

“It’s not rocket science. When you have a generation that got used to people that were jumping 8.60m and competition was there, people were excited.”

Currently, he told a select group of journalists at the World Athletics Relays in Nassau, “fans don’t feel like they’re going to see anything special”.

“With the long jump at one point, you really felt like ‘I want to be there because I’m going to see something special’.”

But times have changed, Lewis continued, with a severely reduced number of newcomers willing to submit to the rigorous training demands.

“I just don’t think our culture is raising kids to do that anymore” he said. “It’s just not in the culture to work that hard, to not be distracted. It’s just not there.

“And in our culture, I’m not talking about just athletes but I’m talking about kids. What I had to go through, a kid now? ‘Oh no, got to stop, mental health’. Seriously, I’m just being honest.”

Lewis credits Jesse Owens as a role model, the American who became an iconic figure in winning four golds at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, including the long jump.

“Jesse Owens would have made the final every Olympic Games to this day,” Lewis said.

“His personal best (of 8.13m) would have got the bronze in London. So why is that? Because it’s hard.”

Lewis was a fervent critic of World Athletics’ proposed change in rules in the long jump in a bid to eliminate foul jumps.

“You’re supposed to wait until April 1st for April Fools’ jokes,” Lewis tweeted at the time. –