Fat Chance For Jump Record Pedroso’s Long Jump Questioned Because Coach Blocked Wind

Ivan Pedroso likely will never get credit for his world-record long jump, and he probably will have to return the red Ferrari he received for the feat.

The Italian track and field federation decided Thursday against seeking record ratification because it said a heavyset Italian coach stood in front of the wind measuring device and deliberately shielded it from the wind which may have been above the allowable speed.

As a result, Pedroso’s leap of 29 feet, 4-3/4 inches in Sestriere, Italy, will likely never get a shot at recognition.

“He committed a crime” against the rules, federation official Enrico Jacomini said of the local coach, whose action was spotted in videotape.

By that time, Pedroso had already accepted the expensive sports car as a prize.

“He loses the Ferrari,” worth $130,000, said Jacomini, although he admitted Pedroso was not involved in the coach’s action.

Mike Powell will probably keep the record.

The IAAF world track federation can still overrule the decision not to seek ratification but it would be unprecedented if it does.

“We will resolve the issue before the men’s competition here,” said Istvan Gyulai, secretary general of the IAAF world athletics federation.

“I am prepared for the record to be removed although I would be very much disappointed,” Pedroso said, on the eve of the opening of the World Championships.

“I am convinced I will be able to break an even bigger record,” he added. His first opportunity comes at the championships in a head-to-head with Powell and Carl Lewis. The final is set for Aug. 12.

In the rarified air of Sestriere high in the Italian Alps, a place seemingly made for world records, strong winds last Saturday had reduced the classy meet to irrelevancy.

If the wind blows more than 2 meters per second in the back of athletes, records become illegal.

With motives still unclear, Luciano Gemello of Turin profited from the thick fog at the meet to put his bulky frame half a foot in front of the anemometer each time Pedroso prepared to jump, Jacomini said. With spectacular results.

Out of more than 60 measurements, only four performances were legal, and three belonged to Pedroso.

“There was a clear interference. A man was seen sitting on the edge of a table and moved in front of it each time,” Jacomini said.

The fateful jump, the last in Pedroso’s series of six, showed a wind-aided 1.2 meters per second.

Pedroso’s jump, if ratified, would have broken the 26-year hold the United States has had on the long jump record.