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.

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 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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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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