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50 free Long Jump trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The long jump is the only jumping event of the ancient Greek pentathlon and it has been in every modern Olympics since 1896, yet its records move at a glacial pace: Mike Powell's 8.95 m has stood since 1991 and Galina Chistyakova's 7.52 m since 1988. This long jump trivia quiz covers the rules (the board, the plasticine, the wind limit), the technique (approach, hang, hitch-kick, sail and the banned somersault), and the athletes who defined the event. Expect Jesse Owens's 45 minutes in Ann Arbor, Bob Beamon's collapse in Mexico City, the Powell-Lewis duel in Tokyo, Carl Lewis's four straight golds, and modern champions from Greg Rutherford to Miltiadis Tentoglou and Tara Davis-Woodhall. Questions run from easy to expert, and every answer is verified and cited to its reference page. If you enjoy this quiz, try our other athletics and Olympic quizzes.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Together with which event is the long jump classed as a 'horizontal' event?
The triple
The two events measure jumping for distance rather than height.
Q 02When was the women's long jump added to the Olympic programme?
1948
Dr Harry Eaton Stewart had recommended the 'running broad jump' for women as early as 1914.
Q 03How wide is the take-off board?
20 centimetres
A 40 cm take-off zone was trialled from the 2025 indoor season, but World Athletics ditched the reform in December 2025.
Q 04What material is traditionally placed beyond the board to detect foul jumps?
Plasticine
At elite meets cameras and laser sensors have taken over the job.
Q 05From where is a jump measured?
From the foul line to the nearest break in the sand
Any mark left by the body or uniform counts, so falling backwards costs distance.
Q 06What is the maximum tailwind allowed for a record?
2.0 metres per second
Carl Lewis's 8.91 m in Tokyo in 1991 was wind-assisted and remains the longest jump never to win a competition.
Q 07How many marks may a competitor place beside the runway to guide the approach?
Two
Elite approaches run to 20-22 strides, so consistency matters more than raw speed alone.
Q 08How many attempts do the top eight normally receive in total in a final?
Six
Three trial rounds are followed by three more for the best eight; a 2025 World Championships tweak trimmed the field round by round.
Q 09Roughly what share of attempts were invalid before the 2025 take-off zone trial?
Around 30%
World Athletics hoped the wider zone would improve fairness and excitement, but reverted to the board.
Q 10What were the hand weights ancient Greek long jumpers swung called?
Halteres
They weighed 1 to 4.5 kg and were held throughout the jump, not thrown away in mid-air as once believed.
Q 11What was the ancient landing area, the skamma, actually like?
A temporary dug-up patch of ground
Sand in the pit is a modern invention; the skamma was dug up for the occasion and did not remain.
Q 12Which instrument often accompanied the ancient long jump to give the jumper rhythm?
Pipes (aulos)
Philostratus said the rules regarded jumping as the most difficult competition and allowed the flute as an aid.
Q 13How far is the Spartan Chionis said to have jumped at the 656 BC Olympics?
7.05 m
Ancient sources credit him with 52 feet, nearly double the modern record, which is read as exaggeration, a triple jump, or a misread numeral for 22 feet.
Q 21Who set the first long jump world record ratified by the IAAF, 7.61 m in 1901?
Peter O'Connor
The mark stood just short of 20 years, nine of them as an official IAAF record.
Q 22How long did Jesse Owens's 1935 world record of 8.13 m stand?
More than 25 years
Set at the Big Ten meet in Ann Arbor during his famous 45 minutes, it lasted until Ralph Boston broke it in 1960.
Q 23Which German rival did Owens beat for 1936 Olympic gold in this event?
Luz Long
Owens later admitted the two did not actually meet until after the competition, despite the famous story of mid-event advice.
Q 14How many main components does the long jump have, per coaching convention?
Five
Approach, last two strides, take-off, action in the air and landing.
Q 15At roughly what angle do elite jumpers leave the ground?
20 degrees or less
Because take-off speed matters more than angle, sprinters like Lewis and Drechsler thrived in the event.
Q 16How many steps does an elite long jump approach usually contain?
20 to 22
Novices use 12-19; the penultimate stride is the longest and the last is shortened to raise the centre of gravity.
Q 17How should the take-off foot land on the board?
Flat
Heel-first brakes the jump and strains the joints; toes-first risks the leg buckling.
Q 18Which of these is NOT one of the three major flight techniques?
The tuck
All three exist to fight the forward rotation generated at take-off; nothing done in the air changes where the centre of mass lands.
Q 19Which flight technique is best suited to novices but does little to stop forward rotation?
The sail
The jumper lifts the legs quickly toward a toe-touch position, getting into landing shape early.
Q 20Which technique was banned in the 1970s as unsafe?
The forward somersault
Tuariki Delamere used the front flip at the 1974 NCAAs and matched Olympic champion Randy Williams's mark.
Q 24How far did Bob Beamon jump at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics?
8.90 m
It beat the existing record by 55 cm and remains the Olympic record more than half a century later.
Q 25By how much did Beamon beat the previous world record?
55 cm
Unfamiliar with metric, he only understood when Ralph Boston told him, and collapsed in a brief cataplexy attack.
Q 26Which adjective entered sports jargon after Beamon's leap?
Beamonesque
Defending champion Lynn Davies told him, 'You have destroyed this event'.
Q 27Who holds the men's world record of 8.95 m, set in Tokyo in 1991?
Mike Powell
Lewis also passed Beamon's mark that day with 8.91 m, but his jump was wind-assisted.
Q 28Why was Iván Pedroso's 8.96 m at Sestriere not ratified as a world record?
Someone stood in front of the wind gauge
The invalid reading cost him a Ferrari worth $130,000, the prize for a record at that meet.
Q 29Who holds the women's world record of 7.52 m, set in Leningrad in 1988?
Galina Chistyakova
It has now stood longer than any other long jump world record, men's or women's.
Q 30Which wartime star held the women's world record for over 10 years?
Fanny Blankers-Koen
The Dutch 'Flying Housewife' held it longer than anyone before Chistyakova.