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Carl Lewis delved into the present generation of long jumpers citing why none has been able to break or get close to the long-standing world record. American track and field icon Carl Lewis has voiced concerns over the future of the long jump, suggesting that today's athletes lack the mental toughness and discipline required to reach the event's historic heights. Lewis, a four-time Olympic long jump champion (1984-1996) and two-time world champion, dominated the event for over a decade. His legendary rivalry with Mike Powell culminated at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, a showdown often cited as one of the greatest field event battles in history. In that competition, Powell soared to a world record of 8.95 meters, finally eclipsing Bob Beamon's iconic 8.90m leap from the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Powell's record still stands, as does Beamon's Olympic record. To this day, Powell's winning jump and Lewis's best efforts from that same final remain the longest jumps ever recorded at low altitude. Speaking in an interview, Lewis was blunt about the event's perceived decline in popularity. "Why is the long jump not popular? Because no one’s jumping far," he stated. "It’s not rocket science," Lewis explained. "When you have a generation that got used to people that were jumping 8.60m, and competition was there, people were excited." He added that now, "fans don’t feel like they’re going to see anything special." Lewis attributed this decline to a cultural shift, arguing that fewer young athletes are willing to endure the rigorous demands of elite training. "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." He continued with a pointed observation about modern attitudes: "What I had to go through, a kid now? ‘Oh no, got to stop, mental health.’ Seriously, I’m just being honest." Citing Jesse Owens as his inspiration, Lewis highlighted the enduring difficulty of the event. "Jesse Owens would have made the final every Olympic Games in history to this day. His personal best [of 8.13m] would have got the bronze medal in London. So why is that? Because it’s hard," he remarked. The 62-year-old also reiterated his strong opposition to a proposed rule change by World Athletics aimed at eliminating foul jumps by replacing the take-off board with a "zone." When the proposal was first floated, Lewis dismissed it on social media, tweeting, "You’re supposed to wait until April 1st for April Fool’s jokes." He argued that foul rates have remained consistent for decades because the event is inherently difficult. "The beauty of the long jump is the challenge," Lewis insisted. "When you take away that challenge... all of a sudden, you’ve created a new event." Lewis also warned that introducing new technology for measuring jumps from a zone would create a two-tiered system. "You’ll never be able to do that at every level, ever," he said. "Because of that, you’re going to have 99% of the world doing one event and then 1% of the world doing another event."
