Tokyo 2020 Olympic Event Statistics

[DET59]

I'm glad somebody else said it. I find her borderline unwatchable. In fact, I now fast forward throughout almost every attempt. But until this thread I thought it would come across poorly to say it.

So when did style points come in to play ? : ) Ski jumping is a wonderful sport as athletes get points for both technique and distance. Edwards has 1 top ten jump, Rojas has 8. Maybe he would have jumped further more often with her 37/24/38 Are women "bio-mechanically" different enough from men to make her technique/ratios a better fit for all the physics involved? I think it is too easy to apply men's optimal techniques to womens events when they don't necessarily fit (best examples, shot followed by straight hurdles)

Regarding long Jump.... Only one woman has jumped over 7.32+ this century (and that was in 2002- Kotova who was later suspended for PEDS) Rojas has a 6.88 PB and a windy (+2.7) 7.27. If she took time off from the TJ and concentrated on the LJ what are the chances of her jumping in the range of 7.32 to the WR 7.52 (24-8) ? Could she improve 8 inches or more? Could she be the best long jumper in more than 20 years? Would it make her Athlete of the Decade ?

[Wiederganger]

Regarding long Jump.... Only one woman has jumped over 7.32+ this century (and that was in 2002- Kotova who was later suspended for PEDS) Rojas has a 6.88 PB and a windy (+2.7) 7.27. If she took time off from the TJ and concentrated on the LJ what are the chances of her jumping in the range of 7.32 to the WR 7.52 (24-8) ? Could she improve 8 inches or more? Could she be the best long jumper in more than 20 years? Would it make her Athlete of the Decade ?

I don't get the arbitrary 7.32+...or is there significance there I have missed? Mihambo has jumped 7.30 this century & has numerous other 7m+ jumps. With Olympic gold & World Golds, for Rojas to do enough in the LJ to boost her AOD credentials, I'd want her to match something of Mihambo's, i.e. a gold medal, or else it's not massively significant in the grand scheme of things (other women up for AOD have great 'second events' ...)

I think Rojas can go further for sure, but she doesn't have the same leg shoot as other long jumpers. She reminds me a bit of Marion Jones: she should be better than she is.

[79]

I think the next 7m32+ and WR holder long jumper will be a world-class sprinter.

[DET59]

I don't get the arbitrary 7.32+...or is there significance there I have missed? Mihambo has jumped 7.30 this century & has numerous other 7m+ jumps. With Olympic gold & World Golds, for Rojas to do enough in the LJ to boost her AOD credentials, I'd want her to match something of Mihambo's, i.e. a gold medal, or else it's not massively significant in the grand scheme of things (other women up for AOD have great 'second events' ...)

I think Rojas can go further for sure, but she doesn't have the same leg shoot as other long jumpers. She reminds me a bit of Marion Jones: she should be better than she is.

I just picked 7.32 as it gives a 20cm range down the all-time list from the world record...(roughly 8 inches).... agree with you about her looking like Marion Jones... we haven't seen many world class sprinter/jumpers combos lately. I wish we would (though my fave combo right now is Ehammers LJ/Deca)

[gm]

Rojas's landing is just fine. Too much is made of "leg shoot" by commentators. She loses very little distance with her current landing.

[Atticus]

Rojas's landing is just fine. Too much is made of "leg shoot" by commentators. She loses very little distance with her current landing.

This almost sounds like a dumb question to me, but no one has even given me a coherent answer to this question(!):

Although a 'proper' landing position puts one's CoG in front of the back of the butt, humans aren't built to take advantage of that, so where the back of the butt is at landing is the thing we're trying to maximize, NOT where the feet are (extended in front of the butt). So . . . why not just lift the legs and feet up more and land butt first?

[lonewolf]

I worked a lot of Shelia Hudson meets in her prime. As I recall, she had a unique landing. She extended but did not sit down, leaving only a parallel pair of size 5 footprints and springing forward completely under control.

[gh]

. . why not just lift the legs and feet up more and land butt first?

I hear the Assoc. Of Back Surgeons recommends that way.

[Atticus]

I hear the Assoc. Of Back Surgeons recommends that way.

??!!
I've never heard of anyone getting their back hurt in a sand landing and I have seen lots of butt-first jumps.
But perhaps you're on to something. With all the dirt pits of yesteryear, perhaps the feet-first landing was taught as a necessity. It is no longer needed.

[br]

I hear the Assoc. Of Back Surgeons recommends that way.

??!!
I've never heard of anyone getting their back hurt in a sand landing and I have seen lots of butt-first jumps.
But perhaps you're on to something. With all the dirt pits of yesteryear, perhaps the feet-first landing was taught as a necessity. It is no longer needed.

You know you're responding to a former triple jumper?

[Atticus]

You know you're responding to a former triple jumper?

As was I (not as good), who also coached them for 25 years.
Plus, when he jumped, it was gravel in the pit!

[Bruce Kritzler]

Seems the feet first”leg shoot”landing is advantageous, if the COG can then move forward over the feet.

[lonewolf]

Seems the feet first”leg shoot”landing is advantageous, if the COG can then move forward over the feet.

That is precisely what Shelia did, maintained upper body forward momentum to rotate forward and never (seldom) sit down. Good enough for several ARs.

[DET59]

That is precisely what Shelia did, maintained upper body forward momentum to rotate forward and never (seldom) sit down. Good enough for several ARs.

Of all the events in T&F the horizontal jumps and the javelin seem to have the greatest range of "finishes" (my current fave is 84m Portuguese thrower Leandro Ramos with his side handspring round off). Of the top 5 all-time in trhe jumps, who finishes the best? (I never saw Mike Powell in person very often, but his WR is very 'pretty' (unlike Drechsler who looks like shes sliding into homeplate on her big jumps)