In 1991, Mike Powell's 8.95 m leap remains the men's long jump world record, more than three decades later, no athlete has surpassed it. On the women's side, the world record stands untouched, Galina Chistyakova's legendary 7.52 m jump from 1988 remains the benchmark. How can we help athletes push these limits? The answer may lie in deeper, more precise performance analysis.
Since June, Archinisis has been working closely with Swiss Athletics as part of the Jumping Forward project, funded by Swiss Olympic. The goal is to broaden performance analysis capabilities and support long jump elite athletes with data. To support this, we have developed new algorithms designed to measure and analyze key factors such as acceleration, approach speed, and take-off angle with greater precision than ever before. By capturing these metrics in real time, the project aims not only to understand what makes world-class jumps possible, but also to accompany the acceleration of pace at which athletes approach, and eventually surpass, the sport's most enduring records.
The project is expected to be completed in December of this year. Looking ahead, 2026 is already shaping up to be a promising year for long jump athletes.