Part of the pentathlon, the Ancient Greek long jump was never contested as an individual sport. Information about the long jump was derived from written accounts as well as pictures often found on olive oil containers. For all the information that we do have about ancient records and distances, numbers were often exaggerated or were not in uniform units of measurement. However, records of distances did not matter as much to the Greeks as much as who won. To psych themself into the right mental state, flute music was played to increase concentration, provide motivation, or even reduce distraction.

The Ancient Greek long jump had a jumping board to begin the jump sequence, and then a leveled out sand or soft dirt pit to land in. While the records of lengths of the jumps may have been exaggerated, there seems to be a consensus between various sources that the length of the sand pit was about 50 feet. After the jump, a wooden peg was used to mark the spot if the jump was one of the longest three jumps.

Athletes used weights or “halters” to create a more powerful jump by increasing their momentum. The weights would initially be brought overhead, then swung down and back behind the jumper. With as much power as possible, the weights would be swung forward and at the right moment, the athlete would jump with the increased momentum from the weights. At the top of the jump, the arms would begin to be brought back as a counter weight so the legs could be thrust forward. The weights create more horizontal thrust, which then is converted into lift when the athlete jumps. Aristotle wrote about the use of weights for additional power in his work Progression of Animals.

The weights varied anywhere from 1 to almost 5 kilograms, but the majority recovered from excavation were between 1.5 and 2.5 kilograms. The shapes of the halters varied by the athlete and their preference, but the most common shape seemed to have looked like a phone receiver from a landline. Some argue that the modern dumbbell shape of today was inspired by these jumping weights. There has been speculation on whether the weights were ejected during the jump, but that does not seem to be the case as that might ruin the clean footprints needed for the jump to be considered “good.”

Chionis of Sparta was said to have jumped 52 feet; several historical texts including a victory record and incomplete gravestone to corroborate the feat. Phayllos of Kraton was said to have jumped 55 feet, which was so long that he landed outside the sand pit. It has been confirmed in historical text that Phayllos was indeed real (but possibly two different people) who notably served in the military. He was an exceptional athlete in regards to running events, however his amazing jumping ability strangely mentioned little by Greek historians. While this number is impossible for one jump, it does suggest that the event was probably multiple standing broad jumps. Logically the event would have been five jumps matching the penta in pentathlon.

Some historians claim that the modern triple jump is more closely related to the ancient long jump than our modern version of one long jump with a running start. There is pictorial evidence of athletes appearing to run with the weights because their legs are spread. However, some argue that this is artistic license to make the picture more dramatic. If there was running involved, this would be more similar to the hop, hop, and jump movement of the triple jump. It is theorized that a short powerful run-up could have been used to initiate the jump, requiring lots of practice. However, there is artistic evidence (statues) of jumpers with hands raised overhead holding the hectares, which looks like the beginning phase of a standing broad jump.

Modern long jumping technique does not work with the weights, but a standing broad jump does work. An experiment was conducted with modern athletes to replicate the jumping pattern with weights to see if they gave additional length to their jumps. Five successive standing jumps were performed with the landing phase of one jump becoming the counterweight for the next jump. The four participants all jumped farther with the weights than without the weights. This experiment verified the various ancient sources of how the exercise may have been executed. The reason the weights aid in the jump was theorized that changing the center of mass at takeoff combined with an increase in takeoff velocity created enough biomechanical advantages to be superior to jumping without the weights.

Bibliography:

Ancient Field Techniques Make Perfect Sense. IOC Olympic Committee. 2020. https://www.olympic.org/ancient-olympic-games/long-jump-javelin-discus. Retrieved November 17th, 2020.

Clarysse, W., Remijsen, S. Ancient Olympics Long Jump. KU Leuven. 2012. http://ancientolympics.arts.kuleuven.be/eng/TC003EN.html#:~:text=The%20long%20jump%20was%20not,was%20part%20of%20the%20pentathlon.&text=Clearly%20the%20Greeks%20practiced%20a,when%20swinging%20the%20halters%20forwards. Retrieved November 17th, 2020.

Lenoir, M., de Clercq, D., Laporte, W. (2005) The “how” and “why” of the ancient Greek long jump with weights: A five-fold symmetric jump in a row?, Journal of Sports Sciences, 23:10, 10331043, DOI: 10.1080/02640410400022037 Retrieved November 30th, 2020

Photo acknowledgement: Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_competitor_in_the_long_jump,_Black-figured_Tyrrhenian_amphora_showing_athletes_and_a_combat_scene,_Greek,_but_made_for_the_Etruscan_market,_540_BC,_found_near_Rome,_Winning_at_the_ancient_Games,_British_Museum_(7675656824).jpg