Samaai slams new long jump format

SOUTH African long jump star Ruswahl Samaai has slammed the new Diamond League rules as “not fair” despite benefiting from it in Stockholm on Sunday.

A controversial competition format has been introduced, which sees the top three jumpers from the first five rounds go into a ‘mini-final’ in the sixth, where a shoot-out takes place among the top three up to that point, and the athlete with the best distance in the final round is declared the winner. Samaai, a two-time African champion and world championship bronze medallist, claimed victory at the Bauhaus Galan Diamond League meeting in the Swedish capital on Sunday, even though he didn’t record the furthest distance in the competition.

Local athlete Thobias Montler produced two jumps of 8.13m in the opening three rounds, with Samaai’s best effort of 8.07m. But the South African bagged the honours with a distance of 8.09m in the ‘mini-final’, while Montler could only muster 8.06m and Finland’s Kristian Pulli had a no-jump.

Samaai has previously criticised the new format, and took little joy out of his win on Sunday as well. “I won the competition based on a format that’s not fair towards the guy with the furthers distance. Our event is simple. Whoever jumps the furthest during the competition wins the competition but not this time around. 8,13m gets you second place and 8,09m wins the competition,” Samaai tweeted.

“I saw the disappointment in Thobias Montler eyes after our last attempts. He shook his (head) and I could see it. THIS IS NOT FAIR! It doesn’t bring excitement. It only brings disappointment. Can we please stop fixing things that’s not broken @WorldAthletics”

His next meeting is in Innsbruck, Austria on September 5.