The high jump is a

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat for landing. Since ancient times, competitors have successively improved their technique until developing the universally preferred

Fosbury Flop The Fosbury flop is a jumping style used in the track and field event of high jump. It was popularized and perfected by American athlete Dick Fosbury, whose gold medal in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City brought it to the world's attention. ...

, in which athletes run towards the bar and leap head first with their back to the bar. The discipline is, alongside the

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

, one of two vertical clearance events in the Olympic athletics program. It is contested at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

and the

World Athletics Indoor Championships The World Athletics Indoor Championships are a biennial indoor track and field competition served as the global championship for that version of the sport. Organised by the World Athletics, the competition was inaugurated as the ''World Indoor G ...

, and is a common occurrence at track and field meets. The high jump was among the first events deemed acceptable for women, having been held at the 1928 Olympic Games.

Javier Sotomayor Javier Sotomayor Sanabria (; born 13 October 1967) is a Cuban former track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump and is the current Men's high jump world record progression, world record holder. The 1992 Summer Olympics, 1992 Olymp ...

(Cuba) is the world record holder with a jump of set in 1993 – the longest-standing record in the history of the men's high jump.

Yaroslava Mahuchikh Yaroslava Oleksiivna Mahuchikh (, ; born 19 September 2001) is a Ukrainian high jumper and women's high jump world record holder. She won the gold medal at the Athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Women's high jump, 2024 Summer Olympics, 2 ...

(Ukraine) is the women's world record holder with a jump of set in 2024.

Rules

The rules set for the high jump by

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

(previously named the IAAF) are Technical Rules TR26 and TR27 (previously Rules 181 and 182). Jumpers must take off from one foot. A jump is considered a failure if the jumper dislodges the bar or touches the ground or any object behind the bar before clearance. Competitors may begin jumping at any height announced by the chief judge, or may pass at their own discretion. Most competitions state that three consecutive missed jumps, at any height or combination of heights, will eliminate the jumper from contention. The victory goes to the jumper who clears the greatest height during the final.

Tie breaking

If two or more jumpers tie for any place, the tie-breakers are: 1) the fewest misses at the height at which the tie occurred; and 2) the fewest misses throughout the competition. If the event remains tied for first place (or a limited-advancement position to a subsequent meet), the jumpers have a jump-off, beginning at the next height above their highest success. Jumpers have one attempt at each height. If only one succeeds, he or she wins; if more than one does, these try with the bar raised; if none does, all try with the bar lowered. This process was followed at the 2015 World Championship men's event and at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. Example: In the example jump-off, the final cleared height is 1.88m, at which A B C and D each have one failure. D has two failures at lower heights compared to one each for the other three, who proceed to a jump-off at the next height above the final cleared height. C is eliminated in the second round of the jump-off 1.89m, then B wins in the third round. A 2009 rule-change makes the jump-off optional, so that first place can be shared by agreement among tied athletes.; This rule led to shared gold in the 2020 Olympic men's event held in 2021.

History

The first recorded high jump event took place in Scotland in the 19th century. Early jumpers used either an elaborate straight-on approach or a ''scissors'' technique. In later years, the bar was approached diagonally, and the jumper threw first the inside leg and then the other over the bar in a scissoring motion. Around the turn of the 20th century, techniques began to change, beginning with the Irish-American Michael Sweeney's ''

Eastern cut-off The eastern cut-off is a variant of the "scissors" high jump style involving a layout. This enables the jumper to clear a higher bar than with the traditional scissors style while still landing on the feet. The technique is generally credited to ...

'' as a variation of the scissors technique. By taking off as in the scissors method, extending his spine and flattening out over the bar, Sweeney raised the world record to in 1895. Even in 1948, John Winter of Australia won the gold medal of the 1948 London Olympics with this style. Besides, one of the most successful female high jumpers,

Iolanda Balaș Iolanda Balaș (, , later ''Balázs-Sőtér Jolán''; 12 December 1936 – 11 March 2016) was a Romanian athlete, an Olympic Games, Olympic champion and Women's high jump world record progression, former world record holder in the high jump. Sh ...

of Romania, used this style to dominate women's high jump for about 10 years until her retirement in 1967. Another American,

George Horine George Leslie Horine (February 3, 1890 – November 28, 1948) was an American athlete who mainly competed in the high jump. He is credited with developing a technique called a forerunner to the western roll, a technique he developed due to the ...

, developed an even more efficient technique, the ''

Western roll The Western roll was a high jump technique invented by George Horine of Stanford University. This technique was succeeded by the straddle. History It is said that George Horine invented the Western roll because the high jump pit at Stanford coul ...

''. In this style, the bar again is approached on a diagonal, but the inner leg is used for the take-off, while the outer leg is thrust up to lead the body sideways over the bar. Horine increased the world standard to in 1912. His technique was predominant through the

1936 Berlin Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

, in which the event was won by Cornelius Johnson at . American and Soviet jumpers were the most successful for the next four decades, and they pioneered the

straddle technique The straddle technique was the dominant style in the high jump before the development of the Fosbury Flop. It is a successor of the Western roll, for which it is sometimes confused. Unlike the scissors or flop style of jump, where the jumper ...

. Straddle jumpers took off as in the Western roll but rotated their torso, belly-down, around the bar, obtaining the most efficient and highest clearance up to that time. Straddle jumper Charles Dumas was the first to clear 7 ft (2.13m), in 1956. American John Thomas pushed the world mark to in 1960.

Valeriy Brumel Valeriy Nikolayevich Brumel (; 14 April 1942 – 26 January 2003)Great Russian Encyclopedia (2006), Moscow: Bol'shaya Rossiyskaya Enciklopediya Publisher, vol. 4, p. 243 was a Soviet-Russian high jumper. The 1964 Olympic champion and multiple wo ...

of the Soviet Union took over the event for the next four years, radically speeding up his approach run. He took the record up to and won the gold medal of the

1964 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequ ...

, before a motorcycle accident ended his career in 1965. EthelCatherwood1928

American coaches, including two-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

champion Frank Costello of the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

, flocked to Russia to learn from Brumel and his coaches like Vladimir Dyachkov. However, it would be a solitary innovator at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

Dick Fosbury Richard Douglas Fosbury (March 6, 1947 – March 12, 2023) was an American high jumper, who is considered one of the most influential athletes in the history of track and field. He won a gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics, revolutionizing t ...

, who would bring the high jump into the next century. Taking advantage of the raised, softer, artificially-cushioned landing areas that were in use by then, Fosbury added a new twist to the outmoded Eastern cut-off. He directed himself over the bar head and shoulders first, going over on his back and landing in a fashion that would likely have resulted in serious injury in the old ground-level landing pits, which were usually filled with sawdust or sand mixtures. Around the same time, Debbie Brill independently came up with the same technique, which she called the 'Brill Bend'. Since Fosbury used his new style, called the

Fosbury flop The Fosbury flop is a jumping style used in the track and field event of high jump. It was popularized and perfected by American athlete Dick Fosbury, whose gold medal in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City brought it to the world's attention. ...

, to win the gold medal of the 1968 Mexico Olympics, its use spread quickly, and soon "floppers" were dominating international high jump competitions. The first flopper setting a world record was the American Dwight Stones, who cleared in 1973. In the female side, the 16-year-old flopper

Ulrike Meyfarth Ulrike Nasse-Meyfarth (; born 4 May 1956) is a German former high jumper. She won the Olympic Games, Olympic title twice, in 1972 and 1984. She is the youngest Olympic champion ever in women's high jump, and at the time of her 1984 triumph, she ...

from West Germany won the gold medal of the

1972 Munich Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

at , which tied the women's world record at that time (held by the Austrian straddler

Ilona Gusenbauer Ilona Maria Gusenbauer (née Majdan on 16 September 1947) is a retired Austrian high jumper who competed at two Olympic Games.

a year before). However, it was not until 1978 when a flopper,

Sara Simeoni Sara Simeoni (born 19 April 1953) is an Italian former high jumper, who won a gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics and twice set a world record in the women's high jump. Biography Sara Simeoni was born in Rivoli Veronese, in the province of ...

of Italy, broke the women's world record. Successful high jumpers following Fosbury's lead also included the rival of Dwight Stones, -tall Franklin Jacobs of Paterson, New Jersey, who cleared , over his head (a feat equalled 27 years later by

Stefan Holm Stefan Christian Holm (born 25 May 1976) is a retired Swedish high jumper. He won an Olympic Games, Olympic gold medal, a silver medal, silver in the World Championships in Athletics, World Championships, and one silver and one bronze medal in ...

of Sweden); Chinese record-setters Ni-chi Chin and

Zhu Jianhua Zhu Jianhua (; born 29 May 1963) is a retired Chinese high jumper. His personal best of 2.39 metres is a former world record for the event, and is still the Chinese record. In Helsinki 1983, Zhu became China's first man to win a medal in t ...

; Germans

Gerd Wessig Gerd Wessig (, ; born 16 July 1959 in Lübz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) is a former East German high jumper who won the gold medal in the 1980 Summer Olympics, the first man ever to set a world record in the high jump at the Olympics. Early ...

and

Dietmar Mögenburg Dietmar Mögenburg (, ; born 15 August 1961) is a (West) German former high jumper who won gold medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles and at the 1982 European Championships in Athens. Career On 26 May 1980, at the age of 18, Mögenb ...

; Swedish Olympic medalist and former world record holder

Patrik Sjöberg Jan Niklas Patrik Sjöberg (; born 5 January 1965) is a Swedish former high jumper. He broke the world record with in Stockholm on 30 June 1987. This mark is still the European record and ranks him third on the world all-time list behind Javie ...

; female jumpers

of West Germany and

of Italy. In spite of this, the straddle technique did not disappear at once. In 1977, the 18-year-old Soviet straddler

Vladimir Yashchenko Vladimir Ilyich Yashchenko () or Volodymyr Yashchenko () (12 January 1959 – 30 November 1999) was a Ukrainian member of the Soviet national team and former world record holder in the high jump (2.33 m, 2.34 m, and . Yashchenko fir ...

set a new world record . In 1978, he raised the record to , and indoor, just before a knee injury effectively ended his career when he was only 20 years old. In the female side, the straddler Rosemarie Ackermann of East Germany, who was the first female jumper ever to clear , raised the world record from to during 1974 to 1977. In fact, from 2 June 1977 to 3 August 1978, almost 10 years after Fosbury's success, the men's and women's world records were still held by straddle jumpers Yashchenko and Ackermann respectively. However, they were the last world record holders using the straddle technique. Ackermann also won the gold medal of the

1976 Montreal Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal w ...

, which was the last time for a straddle jumper (male or female) to win an Olympic medal. In 1980, the Polish flopper, 1976 Olympic gold medalist

Jacek Wszoła Jacek Roman Wszoła (born 30 December 1956 in Warsaw, Poland) is a retired Poland, Polish high jumper best known for winning gold and silver medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics, 1976 and 1980 Summer Olympics respectively. Wszoła is also a one-tim ...

, broke Yashchenko's world record at . Two years before, the female Italian flopper

, the long-term rival of Ackermann, broke Ackermann's world record at and became the first female flopper to break the women's world record. She also won the gold medal of the

1980 Moscow Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

, where Ackermann placed fourth. Since then, the flop style has been completely dominant. All other techniques were almost extinct in serious high jump competitions after late 1980s.

Technical aspects

Technique and form have evolved greatly over the history of high jump. The Fosbury Flop is considered the most efficient way for competitors to propel themselves over the bar.

Approach

For a Fosbury Flop, depending on the athlete's jump foot, they start on the right or left of the high jump mat, placing their jump foot farthest away from the mat. They take an eight- to ten-step approach, with the first three to five steps being in a straight line and the last five being on a curve. Athletes generally mark their approach in order to find as much consistency as possible. The approach run can be more important than the takeoff. If a high jumper runs with bad timing or without enough aggression, clearing the bar becomes more of a challenge. The approach requires a certain shape or curve, the right amount of speed, and the correct number of strides. The approach angle is also critical for optimal height. The straight run builds the momentum and sets the tone for a jump. The athlete starts by pushing off their takeoff foot with slow, powerful steps, then begins to accelerate. They should be running upright by the end of the straight portion. The athlete's takeoff foot will be landing on the first step of the curve, and they will continue to accelerate, focusing their body towards the opposite back corner of the high jump mat. While staying erect and leaning away from the mat, the athlete takes their final two steps flat-footed, rolling from the heel to the toe. Most great straddle jumpers run at angles of about 30 to 40 degrees. The length of the run is determined by the speed of the approach. A slower run requires about eight strides, but a faster high jumper might need about 13 strides. Greater speed allows a greater part of the body's forward momentum to be converted upward. The J approach favored by Fosbury floppers allows for speed, the ability to turn in the air (

centripetal force Centripetal force (from Latin ''centrum'', "center" and ''petere'', "to seek") is the force that makes a body follow a curved trajectory, path. The direction of the centripetal force is always orthogonality, orthogonal to the motion of the bod ...

), and a good takeoff position, which helps turn horizontal momentum into vertical momentum. The approach should be a hard, controlled stride so that the athlete does not fall from running at an angle. Athletes should lean into the curve from their ankles, not their hips. This allows their hips to rotate during takeoff, which in turn allows their center of gravity to pass under the bar.

Takeoff

The takeoff can be double-arm or single-arm. In both cases, the plant foot should be the foot farthest from the bar, angled towards the opposite back corner of the mat, as they drive up the knee on their non-takeoff leg. This is accompanied by a one- or two-arm swing while driving the knee. Unlike the straddle technique, where the takeoff foot is "planted" in the same spot regardless of the height of the bar, flop-style jumpers must adjust their approach run as the bar is raised so that their takeoff spot is slightly farther out from the bar. Jumpers attempting to reach record heights commonly fail when most of their energy is directed into the vertical effort and they knock the bar off the standards with the backs of their legs as they stall. An effective approach shape can be derived from physics. For example, the rate of backward spin required as the jumper crosses the bar in order to facilitate shoulder clearance on the way up and foot clearance on the way down can be determined by computer simulation. This rotation rate can be back-calculated to determine the required angle of lean away from the bar at the moment of planting, based on how long the jumper is on the takeoff foot. This information, together with the jumper's speed, can be used to calculate the radius of the curved part of the approach. One can also work in the opposite direction by assuming a certain approach radius and determining the resulting backward rotation. Drills can be practiced to solidify the approach. One drill is to run in a straight line and then run two to three circles spiraling into one another. Another is to run or skip a circle of any size two to three times in a row. It is important to leap upwards without first leaning into the bar, allowing the momentum of the J approach to carry the body across the bar.

Flight

The knee on the athlete's non-takeoff leg naturally turns their body, placing them in the air with their back to the bar. The athlete then drives their shoulders towards the back of their feet, arching their body over the bar. They can look over their shoulder to judge when to kick both feet over their head, causing their body to clear the bar and land on the mat.

All-time top 25

*.High Jump - men - senior - outdoor
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-01-25.High Jump - women - senior - outdoor
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-01-25.High Jump - men - senior - indoor
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-01-25.High Jump - women - senior - indoor
IAAF. Retrieved on 2014-01-25.

Men (outdoor)

Annulled marks

The following athletes have had their personal best annulled due to doping offences:

Women (outdoor)

Men (indoor)

Annulled marks

The following athletes have had their personal best annulled due to doping offences:

Women (indoor)

Olympic medalists

Men

Women

World Championships medalists

Men

Women

World Indoor Championships medalists

Men

Women

* Known as the ''World Indoor Games''.

Athletes with most medals

Athletes who have won multiple titles at the two most important competitions, the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

and the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

: *4 wins: Mariya Lasitskene (RUS) - Olympic Champion in 2020, World Champion in 2015, 2017 & 2019 *4 wins:

Mutaz Essa Barshim Mutaz Essa Barsham (; born 24 June 1991) is a Qatari track and field athlete who competes in the high jump and is the former Olympic Champion. He is also the former World Champion and second highest jumper of all-time with a personal best of 2.4 ...

(QAT) - Olympic Champion in 2020, World Champion in 2017, 2019 & 2022 *3 wins:

(CUB) - Olympic Champion in 1992, World Champion in 1993 & 1997 *3 wins: Stefka Kostadinova (BUL) - Olympic Champion in 1996, World Champion in 1987 & 1995 *2 wins: Gennadiy Avdeyenko (URS) - Olympic Champion in 1988, World Champion in 1983 *2 wins: Charles Austin (USA) - Olympic Champion in 1996, World Champion in 1991 *2 wins:

(ROU) - Olympic Champion in 1960 & 1964 *2 wins:

(FRG) - Olympic Champion in 1972 & 1984 *2 wins:

Heike Henkel Heike Henkel (; born Heike Redetzky; 5 May 1964) is a German former athlete competing in high jump. She was Olympic, World and European champion. She won the high jump gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Biography H ...

(GER) - Olympic Champion in 1992, World Champion in 1991 *2 wins: Hestrie Cloete (RSA) - World Champion in 2001 & 2003 *2 wins:

Blanka Vlašić Blanka Vlašić (; born 8 November 1983) is a Croatian former track and field athlete who specialised in the high jump. She is a double world champion, an indoor world champion and twice Olympic medallist. Vlašić's personal best of is a Cr ...

(CRO) - World Champion in 2007 & 2009 *2 wins:

Anna Chicherova Anna Vladimirovna Chicherova (; born 22 July 1982) is a Russian-Armenian high jumper. She was the gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and was originally awarded a bronze medal in the event ...

(RUS) - Olympic Champion in 2012, World Champion in 2011 *2 wins:

Gianmarco Tamberi Gianmarco Tamberi (; born 1 June 1992) is an Italian high jumper, previous Olympic champion (2020), European outdoor champion (2024) and World outdoor champion (2023). He won the 2021 Diamond League crown, becoming the first ever Italian to do ...

(ITA) - Olympic Champion in 2020, World Champion in 2023 *2 wins:

(UKR) - Olympic Champion in 2024, World Champion in 2023 Kostadinova, Sotomayor and Mahuchikh are the only high jumpers to have been Olympic Champion, World Champion and broken the world record.

Season's bests

Men

Women

Sources

* ''The Complete Book of Track and Field'', by Tom McNab * ''The

World Almanac and Book of Facts ''The World Almanac and Book of Facts'' is a US-published reference work, an almanac conveying information about such subjects as world changes, tragedies, and sports feats. It has been published yearly from 1868 to 1875, and again every year sinc ...

, 2000''

References

External links

IAAF high jump homepageIAAF list of high-jump records in XMLVertical Jump Resource
{{DEFAULTSORT:High Jump Events in track and field Sports originating in Scotland Summer Olympic disciplines in athletics Jumping sports

Rules

Tie breaking

History

Technical aspects

Approach

Takeoff

Flight

All-time top 25

Men (outdoor)

Annulled marks

Women (outdoor)

Men (indoor)

Annulled marks

Women (indoor)

Olympic medalists

Men

Women

World Championships medalists

Men

Women

World Indoor Championships medalists

Men

Women

Athletes with most medals

Season's bests

Men

Women

See also

Sources

References

External links