History of the Long Jump

The long jump originated back to 708 B.C., as it was part of the pentathlon event
in the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece (the other events were: wrestling, running,
discus, and javelin throwing).
The long jump as it is known today has been part of the Olympics since the first
Games in 1896, which was hosted in Athens. Since then, it has been included in
every Olympic Games that have been organized, although women did not compete until
the 1948 Games in London, UK. In 1912, the International Association of Athletics
Federations (IAAF) was created to govern the long jump and other track and field
sports, which were standardized in 1932. Since then, every long jump game or
competition is hosted under the IAAF�s rules and regulations.
American and European athletes are dominating the long jump event for men. Some of
the most famous American long jumpers are Jesse Owens, who jumped 8.13m in 1935.
Owens� record lasted for more than 30 years. In the Olympic Games of 1968, another
American athlete Bob Beamon flew out to 8.90m in the rarefied air of Mexico City.
The latter mark stood until another American athlete, Mike Powell beat it, with a
leap of 8.95m at the 1991 World Championship. Powell�s record is until nowadays the
world record for the men�s long jump.
On the other hand, Russia, Germany, and the USA are the top countries in the long
jump events for women. The world record for women belongs to the Russian athlete,
Galina Chistyakova with 7.52m. Chistyakova set the record almost 30 years ago, in
1988. The Olympic and World records for both genders will be analyzed thoroughly on
the next part of the research.
Nowadays, the top jumpers for both genders are from Africa, USA and Europe. During
the last Olympic Games (Rio 2016) more than 60 countries competed in the long jump
event.

History of Tripple Long Jump

The triple jump is a track and field event in which athletes accelerate to full
speed on a runway before completing a hop, a step, and then a jump into a sandpit.
Its history goes back several thousand years. The first recorded evidence of the
event was in the annual Tailteann Games held at Telltown or Taillten, County Meat,
Ireland from 1829 BCE to 554 BCE and later until 1166 CE. One of the events was
�geal-ruith� or triple jump. Other longstanding games in the British Isles, such as
the Braemar Games in Scotland dating back to 1040 CE and those held in Ceres,
County Fife, Scotland from 1314 CE, probably included a version of the triple jump.
Completely separate from the triple jump in Ireland, the event was probably
contested in the ancient Olympic Games held in Olympia, Greece from 776 BCE to 393
CE. The long jump was definitely an event, but we can surmise that some form of
triple jump was also part of the schedule. Distances of over 50 feet were recorded,
which would suggest three leaps rather than one or even two. A famous athlete from
the ancient games was Chionis of Sparta who competed in 664 to 656 BCE and won
running events as well as the long jump and a triple jump. The rules of this jump
were unclear but he was known to achieve distances up to 52 feet or 15.85 meters.
His long jump record was 23 feet or 7.01 meters. The ratio between his triple and
long jumps is similar to those of modern-day athletes, so it seems something
approximating the triple jump was performed at the ancient games.

The triple jump has been a part of the Olympics - for men, at least - since the
first modern Games in 1896, when the event consisted of two hops with the same
foot, followed by a jump. It was soon changed to the modern "hop, step and jump"
pattern. Americans and Europeans dominated the early contests, but Japanese jumpers
won three consecutive Olympic gold medals from 1928-36. Chuhei Nambu was the 1932
champion with a leap measuring 15.72 meters (51 feet, 6� inches). Two early Olympic
competitions included a standing triple jump event, in addition to the standard
version, which was then called the "hop, step, and jump." American Ray Ewry won
both Olympic standing triple jump gold medals, in 1900 and�1904.�

HISTORY OF POLE VAULTING

Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which the vaulter uses a long, flexible
fiberglass or carbon fiber pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole vaulting is one
of the most technically demanding athletic events. It combines the skills of
gymnastics, weight lifting, sprinting, and jumping. The best pole vaulters are
fast, powerful, strong, agile, tenacious, and courageous. Pole vaulting
competitions were held by ancient Greeks, Cretans, and Celts. Men's Pole Vaulting
has been a medal event at the Olympic Games since 1896. Women's Olympic pole
vaulting began in 2000Poles were used as a means of passing over natural obstacles,
waterways, and marshy places throughout Europe. Stacks of jumping poles were kept
at homes to enable people to cross canals and waterways without getting wet.
Venetian gondoliers have historically used their punting poles to vault themselves
to shore from their boats. History recorded an early pole vaulting competition at
the Ulverston Football and Cricket Club, Cumbria in 1843. Modern competition began
around 1850 in Germany. The modern pole-vaulting technique was developed in the
United States in the latter 1800s.The first competitive vaulting poles were made
from solid ash. As the heights attained increased bamboo poles gave way to tubular
aluminum, which was tapered at each end. More recent improvements brought flexible
vaulting poles made from composites such as fiberglass or carbon fiber. These poles
allow vaulters to achieve greater height. A good pole vaulter must demonstrate not
only speed, agility and strength but great technical skill.
Today, male and female athletes compete in the pole vault as one of the four
jumping events in track and field. Each vaulter uses his or her own weight to
launch over an elevated bar. If the vaulter knocks the bar off its support he or
she is disqualified. Only vaulters who have cleared the bar are judged.
The effective properties of a pole can be changed by gripping the pole higher or
lower in relation to the top of the pole. The left- and right-hand grips are
typically a bit more than shoulder width apart. Poles are manufactured for people
of all skill levels and body sizes, with sizes as short as 3.05m (10 feet) to as
long as 5.30 m (17 feet 4.5 inches), with a wide range of weight ratings.

History of High Jump

High jump contests were popular in Scotland in the early 19th century, and the
event was incorporated into the first modern Olympics Games in 1896 for men. Women
made their Olympic high jump debut in 1928.
Of the field events, the high jump has perhaps undergone the most radical changes
of technique. The Eastern Cut-off, Western Roll and Straddle are methods that have
been previously used by the world�s elite. However, the Fosbury Flop, which
involves going over with the jumper's back to the bar, popularized by the 1968
Olympic champion Dick Fosbury, is now almost exclusively the technique adopted by
all the top high jumpers.
Javier Sotomayor won Olympic gold at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. The Cuban great
set the current high jump world record of 2.45m in 1993 and is the first man in
history to jump over 8ft. One of the greatest women�s high jumpers in history is
Iolanda Balas. The Romanian great won back-to-back Olympic titles in 1960 and 1964
and went 11 years unbeaten in her event.

One of two field events also referred to as vertical jumps, competitors in the high
jump take off (unaided) from one foot over a four-metre-long horizontal bar. They
seek to clear the greatest height without knocking the bar to the ground. Athletes
land on a crash mat.
All competitors have three attempts per height, although they can elect to �pass�,
i.e. advance to a greater height despite not having cleared the current one. Three
consecutive failures at the same height, or combination of heights, leads to
elimination.
If competitors are tied on the same height, the winner is the one with fewest
failures at that height. If competitors are still tied, the winner will have had
the fewest failures across the entire competition. Thereafter, a jump-off will
decide the winner. The jump-off will start at the next greater height. Each jumper
has one attempt and the bar is lowered and raised until one jumper succeeds at one
height.
The event demands speed, explosive power and agility among other qualities. At
major championships the format is usually a qualification competition followed by a
final.