Nine-time Olympic gold medallist Carl Lewis has slammed World Athletics (WA) after it revealed it is considering a change to one of the sport's oldest events, the long jump.

WA chief executive Jon Ridgeon told the Anything But Footy podcast his organisation is testing an idea to eliminate fouls in the event.

A foul is called when an athlete's foot crosses the line on the wooden take-off board, meaning a measurement is not taken even if they complete a jump.

WA wants to look at the introduction of a "take-off zone", where a jump is measured from wherever the athlete's front foot takes off to the point they land in the pit.

Ridgeon has backed the testing of the idea as a way of speeding up competition.

He claimed a third of attempts in the long jump events at last year's World Athletics Championships in Budapest were recorded as "no jumps".

"That doesn't work. That's a waste of time," Ridgeon said.

Ridgeon said the proposed change could make long jump more "popular" and "entertaining".

"Every single jump counts," he said.

"It adds to the jeopardy of the competition, the drama of the competition."

Lewis, who won the men's long jump at four consecutive Olympics between 1984-1996, is among the critics of WA's radical idea.

"You're supposed to wait until April 1st for April Fools jokes," Lewis wrote on X.

In subsequent posts, Lewis said the introduction of a take-off zone would "eliminate the most difficult skill from the event".

He likened the suggestion to making the basket larger for free throws in basketball "because so many people miss them".

"The new board idea will not work and will not improve distances," Lewis wrote.

"Every person who has ever jumped over 29 feet is still alive. Maybe you should start asking them how they did it and stop trying to do everything else."

Lewis is not alone in his criticism, with women's world champion Ivana Španović also against the idea.

The men's long jump was contested at the first modern Olympics in 1896, while the women's event was introduced in 1948.

Ridgeon said the event's deep history meant he understood why there would be opposition to the proposed move.

"We're an amazing sport from the point of view [that] we're 150 years old, OK, and we celebrate that heritage and it's wonderful," he said.

"But one of the downsides of being 150 years old and having such great history is that we are an innately conservative sport, probably like a lot of sports, particularly a lot of Olympic sports and change is not easy."

Ridgeon said WA would not introduce the take-off zone idea if it failed to meet KPIs during the testing stage.