FIELD JUDGING

Evening Star, Issue 22145, 27 September 1935, Page 5

FIELD JUDGING

CARE BY OFFICIALS REQUIRED POINTS ON LONG JUMP The first man ever to break 26ft in the long jump, was the diriiinutive American negro, H. De Hart Hubbard, bub he did not get his world’s,record allowed because it was alleged that the surface of the sand in the pit was Jin lower than the level of the take-off board! It was hard luck on Hubbard, but does prove how important it is for officials to be right on top of their job, since careless raking of the sand can make a difference of considerably more than an inch in the surface level (says a writer in ‘ Amateur Sport and Athletics,’ the official journal, of the English A.A.A)* It is unnecessary to have a number of officials hanging round the pit, and they spoil the view of the, spectators.There should be a chief judge to sea that a steward appointed to that task keeps the cinder runway swept and rolled, the take-off board swept, and the ridge of sand in front of it properly built up. , Incidentally, the take-off board should measure 4ft 'long, - Biii: wide, and 4in deep, the top being painted white and sunk flush with the , ground. It is both, wrong and. dangerous to trench the ground in front of the board; it should be edged with a little wall of sand Jin high. If oil is mixed with the sand the jumper’s spikes will make a clear impression if he .oversteps the hoard. There should be a second judge, to mark “ the nearest break in the ground made by any part of the body of the competitor.” As the jumps are mea-v 'sured at right-angles from the front of 1 the take-off board, care must bo taken in setting out a perpendicular or a right-angle to the framing ot the pit. The ring or the tape should ba held at the break and the reading taken at-the front edge of the board nearest to the pit. After each jump the pit surface is levelled. , ... Mr Harry Rottenburg, of Cambndgs "University, has invented some excel* lent athletic “ gadgets. ’ x For. there .is his ?‘No-jump indicator, ■ rather like the keyboard of a piano,-to replace the sand ridge at the take-off,, and his angle-arm and sand-leveller. The right-angle arm ensures that tha iumper gets his. full distance measured, while the sand-leveller . provides ai smooth surface at the same level aa the take-off board for each jump. The chief judge should place himself at right-angles to the take-off board and some 4yds from it. He should then fix' his eyes upon the sand-ndge aud should not watch either the approach,, the jump, or the lauding of the athlete.His job is to see -that the jumper does not overstep the mark. _ -.• Normally, each competitor is allowed three jumps and then the three athletes who ale-leading are allowed three more ,U This rule can only be" varied if the promoting body states in the programme that the competition will be decided by the result of the first round of three jumps per person. To save time it is advisable to liava an official at the commencement of the runway. Directly one athlete starts his approach run this official should insist upon the next man,in the order of the programme, getting ready to start and the next after him bogmning to strip. This is of benefit to athfetes and spectators Mike, .but tha measuring and sand-le veiling must also be done expeditiously. , , If an athlete crosses the scratch line, represented by the take-off board, no matter how far he rims to either side, that counts as_ an attempt to jump and is one of his trials. Do not forget to measure back to the board perpendicularly from tha nearest break in the ground made by auv part of the athlete’s body. Imd puns auq. ino Anna s[33i[ suj .uismi st at 26ft. but if he falls back and puts a hand down to save himself and the measurement from his hand-imprint back to the board is 23ft 6m, that is the measurement with which he will be credited for that particular jump. An athlete does not save : himself from being penalised for falling back and touching the ground, at less than the distance of his heel marks bv uinging his body sideways out of, the pit, although many athletes hold, and soma judges; share this belief. * The official in charge of the athletes should be given a card showing tha order of jumning. which must agree with that of the chief judge. The chief judge must- have _a card on which to tick each man’s jump as it is made* The measuring, judge must have an as* sistant, who will have a card on wmen he null enter the result of each mans jump as it is measured. All the judges must sign the card upon which the measurements are en* tered. The chief judge will place the competitors in their final order and will then send, or take, the card to tho chief recorder. If an apparatus is used, with aq angle arm and a scale of measurement* on the side frames of the pit, then it will not be necessary to make th« measurements with a steel tape.