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High jump at the Olympics

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High jump
at the Olympic Games
The 1904 high jump competition
Overview
SportAthletics
GenderMen and women
Years heldMen: 18962024
Women: 19282024
Olympic record
Men2.39 m Charles Austin (1996)
Women2.06 m Yelena Slesarenko (2004)
Reigning champion
Men Hamish Kerr (NZL)
Women Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR)

The high jump at the Summer Olympics is grouped among the four track and field jumping events held at the multi-sport event. The men's high jump has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the first Summer Olympics in 1896. The women's high jump was one of five events to feature on the first women's athletics programme in 1928, and it was the only jumping event available to women until 1948, when the long jump was permitted.

The Olympic records for the event are 2.39 m (7 ft 10 in) for men, set by Charles Austin in 1996, and 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) for women, set by Yelena Slesarenko in 2004. Gerd Wessig is the only man to have set a world record in the Olympic high jump, having done so in 1980 with a mark of 2.36 m (7 ft 8+34 in). The women's world record has been broken on three occasions at the Olympics, with records coming in 1928, 1932 and 1972.[1]

Ellery Clark was the first Olympic champion in 1896 and Ethel Catherwood became the first female Olympic high jump champion 32 years later. Following the 2020 Olympics, Gianmarco Tamberi from Italy and Mutaz Essa Barshim from Qatar are the reigning men's Olympic champions and Yaroslava Mahuchikh from Ukraine is the reigning women's Olympic champion. Only two athletes have won two Olympic high jump titles, both women: Iolanda Balaș and Ulrike Meyfarth.

A standing high jump variant of the event was contested from 1900 to 1912 and standing jumps specialist Ray Ewry won all but one of the gold medals in its brief history.

Medalists

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Men

[edit]
Games Gold Silver Bronze
1896 Athens
details
Ellery Harding Clark
 United States
James Brendan Connolly
 United States
none awarded
Robert Garrett
 United States
1900 Paris
details
Irving Baxter
 United States
Patrick Leahy
 Great Britain
Lajos Gönczy
 Hungary
1904 St. Louis
details
Samuel Jones
 United States
Garrett Serviss
 United States
Paul Weinstein
 Germany
1908 London
details
Harry Porter
 United States
Géo André
 France
none awarded
Con Leahy
 Great Britain
István Somodi
 Hungary
1912 Stockholm
details
Alma Richards
 United States
Hans Liesche
 Germany
George Horine
 United States
1920 Antwerp
details
Richmond Landon
 United States
Harold Muller
 United States
Bo Ekelund
 Sweden
1924 Paris
details
Harold Osborn
 United States
Leroy Brown
 United States
Pierre Lewden
 France
1928 Amsterdam
details
Bob King
 United States
Benjamin Hedges
 United States
Claude Ménard
 France
1932 Los Angeles
details
Duncan McNaughton
 Canada
Bob Van Osdel
 United States
Simeon Toribio
 Philippines
1936 Berlin
details
Cornelius Johnson
 United States
Dave Albritton
 United States
Delos Thurber
 United States
1948 London
details
John Winter
 Australia
Bjørn Paulson
 Norway
George Stanich
 United States
1952 Helsinki
details
Walt Davis
 United States
Ken Wiesner
 United States
José da Conceição
 Brazil
1956 Melbourne
details
Charles Dumas
 United States
Chilla Porter
 Australia
Igor Kashkarov
 Soviet Union
1960 Rome
details
Robert Shavlakadze
 Soviet Union
Valeriy Brumel
 Soviet Union
John Thomas
 United States
1964 Tokyo
details
Valeriy Brumel
 Soviet Union
John Thomas
 United States
John Rambo
 United States
1968 Mexico City
details
Dick Fosbury
 United States
Ed Caruthers
 United States
Valentin Gavrilov
 Soviet Union
1972 Munich
details
Jüri Tarmak
 Soviet Union
Stefan Junge
 East Germany
Dwight Stones
 United States
1976 Montreal
details
Jacek Wszoła
 Poland
Greg Joy
 Canada
Dwight Stones
 United States
1980 Moscow
details
Gerd Wessig
 East Germany
Jacek Wszoła
 Poland
Jörg Freimuth
 East Germany
1984 Los Angeles
details
Dietmar Mögenburg
 West Germany
Patrik Sjöberg
 Sweden
Zhu Jianhua
 China
1988 Seoul
details
Hennadiy Avdyeyenko
 Soviet Union
Hollis Conway
 United States
Rudolf Povarnitsyn
 Soviet Union
Patrik Sjöberg
 Sweden
1992 Barcelona
details
Javier Sotomayor
 Cuba
Patrik Sjöberg
 Sweden
Hollis Conway
 United States
Tim Forsyth
 Australia
Artur Partyka
 Poland
1996 Atlanta
details
Charles Austin
 United States
Artur Partyka
 Poland
Steve Smith
 Great Britain
2000 Sydney
details
Sergey Klyugin
 Russia
Javier Sotomayor
 Cuba
Abderahmane Hammad
 Algeria
2004 Athens
details
Stefan Holm
 Sweden
Matt Hemingway
 United States
Jaroslav Bába
 Czech Republic
2008 Beijing
details
Andrey Silnov
 Russia
Germaine Mason
 Great Britain
Yaroslav Rybakov
 Russia
2012 London
details
Erik Kynard
 United States
Mutaz Essa Barshim
 Qatar
none awarded
Derek Drouin
 Canada
Robbie Grabarz
 Great Britain
2016 Rio de Janeiro
details
Derek Drouin
 Canada
Mutaz Essa Barshim
 Qatar
Bohdan Bondarenko
 Ukraine
2020 Tokyo
details
Gianmarco Tamberi
 Italy
none awarded Maksim Nedasekau
 Belarus
Mutaz Essa Barshim
 Qatar
2024 Paris
details
Hamish Kerr
 New Zealand
Shelby McEwen
 United States
Mutaz Essa Barshim
 Qatar

Multiple medalists

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Rank Athlete Nation Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Mutaz Essa Barshim  Qatar (QAT) 2012–2024 1 2 1 4
2 Valeriy Brumel  Soviet Union (URS) 1960–1964 1 1 0 2
Jacek Wszoła  Poland (POL) 1976–1980 1 1 0 2
Javier Sotomayor  Cuba (CUB) 1992–2000 1 1 0 2
Derek Drouin  Canada (CAN) 2012–2016 1 1 0 2
6 Patrik Sjöberg  Sweden (SWE) 1984–1992 0 2 1 3
7 John Thomas  United States (USA) 1960–1964 0 1 1 2
Hollis Conway  United States (USA) 1988–1992 0 1 1 2
Artur Partyka  Poland (POL) 1992–1996 0 1 1 2
10 Dwight Stones  United States (USA) 1972–1976 0 0 2 2

Medalists by country

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Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  United States (USA) 14 14 8 36
2  Soviet Union (URS) 4 1 3 8
3  Canada (CAN) 2 2 0 4
4  Russia (RUS) 2 0 1 3
5  Sweden (SWE) 1 2 2 5
6  Poland (POL) 1 2 1 4
 Qatar (QAT) 1 2 1 4
8  Australia (AUS) 1 1 1 3
 East Germany (GDR) 1 1 1 3
10  Cuba (CUB) 1 1 0 2
11  Italy (ITA) 1 0 0 1
 New Zealand (NZL) 1 0 0 1
 West Germany (FRG) 1 0 0 1
14  Great Britain (GBR) 0 4 1 5
15  France (FRA) 0 1 2 3
16  Germany (GER) 0 1 1 2
 Hungary (HUN) 0 1 1 2
18  Norway (NOR) 0 1 0 1
19  Algeria (ALG) 0 0 1 1
 Belarus (BLR) 0 0 1 1
 Brazil (BRA) 0 0 1 1
 China (CHN) 0 0 1 1
 Czech Republic (CZE) 0 0 1 1
 Philippines (PHI) 0 0 1 1
 Ukraine (UKR) 0 0 1 1

Women

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Games Gold Silver Bronze
1928 Amsterdam
details
Ethel Catherwood
 Canada
Lien Gisolf
 Netherlands
Mildred Wiley
 United States
1932 Los Angeles
details
Jean Shiley
 United States
Babe Didrikson
 United States
Eva Dawes
 Canada
1936 Berlin
details
Ibolya Csák
 Hungary
Dorothy Odam
 Great Britain
Elfriede Kaun
 Germany
1948 London
details
Alice Coachman
 United States
Dorothy Tyler
 Great Britain
Micheline Ostermeyer
 France
1952 Helsinki
details
Esther Brand
 South Africa
Sheila Lerwill
 Great Britain
Aleksandra Chudina
 Soviet Union
1956 Melbourne
details
Mildred McDaniel
 United States
Thelma Hopkins
 Great Britain
none awarded
Mariya Pisareva
 Soviet Union
1960 Rome
details
Iolanda Balaș
 Romania
Jarosława Jóźwiakowska
 Poland
none awarded
Dorothy Shirley
 Great Britain
1964 Tokyo
details
Iolanda Balaș
 Romania
Michele Brown
 Australia
Taisia Chenchik
 Soviet Union
1968 Mexico City
details
Miloslava Rezková
 Czechoslovakia
Antonina Okorokova
 Soviet Union
Valentina Kozyr
 Soviet Union
1972 Munich
details
Ulrike Meyfarth
 West Germany
Yordanka Blagoeva
 Bulgaria
Ilona Gusenbauer
 Austria
1976 Montreal
details
Rosemarie Ackermann
 East Germany
Sara Simeoni
 Italy
Yordanka Blagoeva
 Bulgaria
1980 Moscow
details
Sara Simeoni
 Italy
Urszula Kielan
 Poland
Jutta Kirst
 East Germany
1984 Los Angeles
details
Ulrike Meyfarth
 West Germany
Sara Simeoni
 Italy
Joni Huntley
 United States
1988 Seoul
details
Louise Ritter
 United States
Stefka Kostadinova
 Bulgaria
Tamara Bykova
 Soviet Union
1992 Barcelona
details
Heike Henkel
 Germany
Alina Astafei
 Romania
Ioamnet Quintero
 Cuba
1996 Atlanta
details
Stefka Kostadinova
 Bulgaria
Niki Bakoyianni
 Greece
Inha Babakova
 Ukraine
2000 Sydney
details
Yelena Yelesina
 Russia
Hestrie Cloete
 South Africa
Kajsa Bergqvist
 Sweden
Oana Pantelimon
 Romania
2004 Athens
details
Yelena Slesarenko
 Russia
Hestrie Cloete
 South Africa
Vita Styopina
 Ukraine
2008 Beijing
details
Tia Hellebaut
 Belgium
Blanka Vlašić
 Croatia
Chaunté Howard
 United States
2012 London
details
Anna Chicherova
 Russia
Brigetta Barrett
 United States
Ruth Beitia
 Spain
2016 Rio de Janeiro
details
Ruth Beitia
 Spain
Mirela Demireva
 Bulgaria
Blanka Vlašić
 Croatia
2020 Tokyo
details
Mariya Lasitskene
 ROC
Nicola McDermott
 Australia
Yaroslava Mahuchikh
 Ukraine
2024 Paris
details
Yaroslava Mahuchikh
 Ukraine
Nicola Olyslagers
 Australia
Iryna Herashchenko
 Ukraine
Eleanor Patterson
 Australia

Multiple medalists

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Rank Athlete Nation Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Iolanda Balaş  Romania (ROU) 1960–1964 2 0 0 2
Ulrike Meyfarth  West Germany (FRG) 1972–1984 2 0 0 2
3 Sara Simeoni  Italy (ITA) 1976–1984 1 2 0 3
4 Stefka Kostadinova  Bulgaria (BUL) 1988–1996 1 1 0 2
5 Ruth Beitia  Spain (ESP) 2012–2016 1 0 1 2
Yaroslava Mahuchikh  Ukraine (UKR) 2020–2024 1 0 1 2
7 Dorothy Tyler-Odam  Great Britain (GBR) 1936–1948 0 2 0 2
Hestrie Cloete  South Africa (RSA) 2000–2004 0 2 0 2
Nicola Olyslagers  Australia (AUS) 2020–2024 0 2 0 2
10 Yordanka Blagoeva  Bulgaria (BUL) 1972–1976 0 1 1 2
Blanka Vlašić  Croatia (CRO) 2008–2016 0 1 1 2

Medalists by country

[edit]
Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  United States (USA) 4 2 3 9
2  Russia (RUS) 3 0 0 3
3  Romania (ROU) 2 1 1 4
4  West Germany (FRG) 2 0 0 2
5  Bulgaria (BUL) 1 3 1 5
6  Italy (ITA) 1 2 0 3
 South Africa (RSA) 1 2 0 3
8  Ukraine (UKR) 1 0 4 5
9  Canada (CAN) 1 0 1 2
 East Germany (GDR) 1 0 1 2
 Germany (GER) 1 0 1 2
 Spain (ESP) 1 0 1 2
13  Belgium (BEL) 1 0 0 1
 Czechoslovakia (TCH) 1 0 0 1
 Hungary (HUN) 1 0 0 1
 ROC 1 0 0 1
17  Great Britain (GBR) 0 5 0 5
18  Australia (AUS) 0 3 1 4
19  Soviet Union (URS) 0 2 4 6
20  Poland (POL) 0 2 0 2
21  Croatia (CRO) 0 1 1 2
22  Greece (GRE) 0 1 0 1
 Netherlands (NED) 0 1 0 1
24  Austria (AUT) 0 0 1 1
 Cuba (CUB) 0 0 1 1
 France (FRA) 0 0 1 1
 Sweden (SWE) 0 0 1 1

Standing high jump

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Standing high jump
at the Olympic Games
Ray Ewry in the 1904 standing high jump competition
Overview
SportAthletics
GenderMen
Years heldMen: 19001912
Olympic record
Men1.655 m Ray Ewry (1900)

From 1900 to 1912 a variation of the event was contested at the Olympics where athletes had to high jump from a standing position. This was one of three standing jumps to have featured on the Olympic programme, alongside the standing long jump (present for the same period) and the standing triple jump (1900 and 1904 only).[2]

The standing jump competitions were dominated by Ray Ewry, who won the Olympic standing high jump titles in 1900, 1904 and 1908. His clearance of 1.655 m (5 ft 5 in) at the 1900 Olympics remained as the Olympic record for the event until its discontinuation in 1912. Ewry took Olympic three gold medals in standing jumps in both 1900 and 1904, then won the standing high and long jumps at the 1908 Olympics, as well as the 1906 Intercalated Games.[3] After Ewry's retirement, Platt Adams became the winner of the final Olympic standing high jump competition in 1912.[4]

The standing high jump—and standing jump events in general—had been a relatively common type of athletics event at the end of the 19th century, but became increasingly rare at top level national and international competitions as the 20th century progressed.[3] The Olympic event remains the only major international competition to have featured the event, except for the 1919 and 1920 editions of the South American Championships in Athletics.[5] The standing high jump retained some popularity as a championship event in Scandinavia in the second half of the century.[6][7]

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1900 Paris
details
Ray Ewry
 United States
Irving Baxter
 United States
Lewis Sheldon
 United States
1904 St. Louis
details
Ray Ewry
 United States
Joseph Stadler
 United States
Lawson Robertson
 United States
1908 London
details
Ray Ewry
 United States
John Biller
 United States
Konstantinos Tsiklitiras
 Greece
None awarded
1912 Stockholm
details
Platt Adams
 United States
Benjamin Adams
 United States
Konstantinos Tsiklitiras
 Greece

Intercalated Games

[edit]

The 1906 Intercalated Games were held in Athens and at the time were officially recognised as part of the Olympic Games series, with the intention being to hold a games in Greece in two-year intervals between the internationally held Olympics. However, this plan never came to fruition and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) later decided not to recognise these games as part of the official Olympic series. Some sports historians continue to treat the results of these games as part of the Olympic canon.[8]

Continuing its presence since the first Olympics, a men's high jump event was contested at the 1906 Games. The competition rules were exhausting for the athletes as the bar was incremented by one centimetre each time and all athletes had to attempt each height. This caused the event to be postponed when darkness fell and competition resumed the following morning. Irishman Con Leahy won the event for Great Britain with a mark of 1.775 m. Lajos Gönczy of Hungary, a 1900 high jump medallist, returned to the Olympic podium with 1.75 m for second. American Bert Kerrigan, who also competed in the pole vault and standing long jump, took third place alongside Themistoklis Diakidis of Greece.[9]

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1906 Athens
details
 Con Leahy (GBR)  Lajos Gönczy (HUN)  Themistoklis Diakidis (GRE)
 Bert Kerrigan (USA)

The standing high jump variant was also contested at the Intercalated Games. Ray Ewry, who entered as the undefeated Olympic champion in the event, won a further gold medal with his mark of 1.56 m (5 ft 1+14 in). Second place was a tie between Martin Sheridan, Léon Dupont and Lawson Robertson, whose joint marks of 1.40 m (4 ft 7 in) was some way behind the winner.[10]

Games Gold Silver Bronze
1906 Athens
details
 Ray Ewry (USA)  Martin Sheridan (USA)
 Léon Dupont (BEL)
 Lawson Robertson (USA)

Non-canonical Olympic events

[edit]

In addition to the main 1900 Olympic men's high jump, a handicap competition was held four days later. All of the podium finishers in the event had failed to medal in the main Olympic final. Tore Blom was first with 2.05 m (35 cm handicap), Gyula Strausz placed second in 2.00 m (also 35 cm), while third place went to Waldemar Steffen with 1.95 m (30 cm handicap).[11][12]

Two professionals-only contests were held in 1900. Mike Sweeney of the United States won with 1.80 m (the second best of the festival after Irv Baxter Olympic record in the amateur event). Another American, Otto Bruno Schoenfeld, was second in 1.75 m, while Noël Douet of France was third in 1.55 m. A handicap professional contest was also held but the results have not been located.[11][13]

The handicap event returned at the 1904 Summer Olympics and the three Olympic finalists who failed to win medals comprised the top three. Ervin Barker won with 1.88 m off a 4.5 inch handicap, Lajos Gönczy was runner-up with a mark of 1.80 m with a three-inch handicap, and Emil Freymark took third, recording 1.80 m with a five-inch handicap.[11]

These events are no longer considered part of the official Olympic history of the high jump or the athletics programme in general. Consequently, medals from these competitions have not been assigned to nations on the all-time medal tables.[11]

References

[edit]
Participation and athlete data
Olympic record progressions
Specific
  1. ^ 12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook Berlin 2009 (pgs. 554–55, 546, 644–5). IAAF (2009). Retrieved on 2014-05-03.
  2. ^ Athletics Men's Standing Long Jump Medalists Archived 2014-08-04 at the Wayback Machine. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-07.
  3. ^ a b Ray Ewry Archived 2014-05-31 at the Wayback Machine. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-07.
  4. ^ Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's Standing High Jump Archived 2014-05-08 at the Wayback Machine. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-07.
  5. ^ South American Championships (Men). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-05-07.
  6. ^ Norwegian Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-05-07.
  7. ^ Swedish Indoor Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-05-07.
  8. ^ 1906 Athina Summer Games Archived 2013-09-22 at the Wayback Machine. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-01-26.
  9. ^ Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's High Jump Archived 2013-12-13 at the Wayback Machine. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-03.
  10. ^ Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's Standing High Jump Archived 2014-05-08 at the Wayback Machine. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-07.
  11. ^ a b c d Handicap Olympic Athletics Events. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-04-18.
  12. ^ Athletics at the 1900 Paris Summer Games: Men's High Jump, Handicap Archived 2014-05-05 at the Wayback Machine. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-05.
  13. ^ Athletics at the 1900 Paris Summer Games: Men's High Jump, Professionals Archived 2014-05-05 at the Wayback Machine. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-05.
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