Bad Langensalza

My second competition in Europe was one to remember. Bad Langensalza (BL) is a small town about 2 hours east of Frankfurt by car. According to some citizens of Cologne / Koln (Germany), towns starting with Bad (meaning bath/spa) are for elderly people with ailments. Traditionally these “Bad” towns were travelled to by Kings for their therapeutic effects. This is not why I will remember it though.

The meet in BL was a long jump only meet, run by an ex-long jumper. There were stands on either side of the runway and the venue doesn’t even have a full track. You can choose a piece of music which they play for you while you jump. The crowd claps you in on every jump (I don’t know how they managed, my hands were sore even after a few rounds of the men’s long jump). Although I have competed in front of huge crowds and there would have been probably only 1000 people there, the atmosphere was fantastic. All of the crowd is focussed on the jumper, the music is playing and the crowd clapping. When I jumped 6.88m during the second round and broke the meet record, the crowd gave me a mexican wave in appreciation which they repeated after my 6.84m, 6.83m and my final round jump (foul).

In addition to the fabulous competition, I had an opportunity to talk to world record holder (8.95m), Mike Powell. All of the jumpers appreciated his contributions during and outside of the competition.

I will definitely return to this meet next year.