Although biomechanical research on elite long jumpers has increased knowledge about the event, the analyses conducted to date suffer from certain limitations, including small sample sizes and few studies on women. Among issues that are still open are the statistical reliability of findings about the horizontal and vertical components of take-off velocity and whether findings are equally valid for men and women. This study based on the published findings from six major events to give a larger data set, analysed both take-off velocity components with three different statistical criteria for a total of 42 women who jumped between 6.14 and 7.40m. This allowed comparisons of the impact of both components on the results and the possibility to test five hypotheses. Among the findings are a) better jumpers have more than coincidental advantages over others in both the horizontal and vertical components of take-off velocity, with the vertical being much more distinct, b) the ratio of horizontal to vertical take-off velocity differs in the studied athletes from 2.1 to 3.6 and c) excellent jumps can be achieved with very different combinations of the two components, but overall the ratio of more successful athletes is significantly lower. To date, analyses of the horizontal and vertical take-off velocities for female elite long jumpers suffered from very small samples. This problem is solved by combining the data from five Olympic Games/IAAF World Championships in Athletics and one European Cup 1st League Group B. Both components were analysed with three different statistical criteria for a total of 42 athletes who jumped between 6.14 and 7.40m. This also allows comparisons of the impact of both components on the jumps. Better jumpers have more than coincidental advantages over others in both influencing variables, with the vertical being much more distinct. The ratio of horizontal and vertical take-off velocity differs from 2.1 to 3.6. Excellent jumps can be achieved with very different combinations of both components, but overall the ratio of more successful athletes is significantly lower. It is characterized by an optimal trend. It is impossible to reach outstanding values in both components since they have a negative influence on each other.
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