High jump
Vertical clearance event with evolving techniques and world records.
The high jump is a track and field event where athletes must leap over a horizontal bar set at specific heights without any assistance and without knocking it off. In the modern version, the bar rests on two upright supports, and a crash mat cushions the landing. Over time, jumpers have steadily refined their methods, and today almost everyone uses the Fosbury flop: running toward the bar and diving over it headfirst, with the back facing the bar. Along with the pole vault, it is one of two vertical jumping events in Olympic athletics. It also appears at the World Championships, the World Indoor Championships, and many other track and field competitions. Women’s high jump was introduced early, debuting at the 1928 Olympics. The current men’s world record is 2.45 meters, set by Javier Sotomayor of Cuba in 1993—the longest-standing record in men’s high jump history. The women’s record is 2.10 meters, set by Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine in 2024. World Athletics (formerly the IAAF) governs the event under Technical Rules TR26 and TR27. Jumpers must take off from one foot. A jump fails if the athlete knocks the bar off or touches the ground or any object behind the bar before clearing it. Competitors can start at any announced height or choose to pass. In most competitions, three consecutive misses—at any height or combination—eliminate a jumper. The winner is the one who clears the highest height in the final. If two or more jumpers tie, the first tiebreaker is the fewest misses at the height where the tie occurred. The second is the fewest misses across the entire competition. If the tie remains for first place (or a qualifying spot for a later meet), a jump-off follows. This starts at the next height above the last successful one. Each jumper gets one attempt per height. If only one succeeds, they win. If more than one succeed, the bar is raised; if none succeed, it is lowered. This procedure was used at the 2015 World Championships men’s event and the 2024 Summer Olympics. A 2009 rule change made the jump-off optional, allowing tied athletes to agree to share first place—a decision that led to shared gold in the 2020 Olympic men’s event (held in 2021). The first recorded high jump event was in 19th-century Scotland. Early jumpers used a straight-on approach or a scissors technique, where they approached diagonally and swung one leg, then the other, over the bar. Around 1900, Irish-American Michael Sweeney introduced the Eastern cut-off, a scissors variation where he extended his spine and flattened over the bar, raising the world record to 1.97 meters in 1895. This style was still used by 1948 Olympic gold medalist John Winter of Australia and by Romanian Iolanda Balaș, who dominated women’s high jump for about a decade until 1967. Another American, George Horine, developed the Western roll. In this method, the jumper approaches diagonally, takes off with the inner leg, and thrusts the outer leg to lead the body sideways over the bar. Horine set a world record of 2.01 meters in 1912. This technique dominated through the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where Cornelius Johnson won at 2.03 meters. For the next four decades, American and Soviet jumpers led the sport, pioneering the straddle technique. Straddle jumpers took off like in the Western roll but rotated their torso belly-down around the bar, achieving the most efficient clearance yet. Charles Dumas became the first to clear 7 feet (2.13 meters) in 1956. John Thomas pushed the world mark to 2.23 meters in 1960. Soviet Valeriy Brumel then dominated for four years, speeding up his approach and raising the record to 2.28 meters, winning the 1964 Tokyo Olympics gold before a 1965 motorcycle accident ended his career. American coaches, including two-time NCAA champion Frank Costello, traveled to Russia to learn from Brumel and his coach Vladimir Dyachkov. But a lone innovator at Oregon State University, Dick Fosbury, revolutionized the event. Using the new, softer, artificially cushioned landing areas, he adapted the old Eastern cut-off, going over the bar head and shoulders first, landing on his back—a move that would have caused serious injury in the old sawdust or sand pits.
Lore & Background
Early jumpers used either an elaborate straight-on approach or a scissors technique. Around the turn of the 20th century, techniques began to change, beginning with the Irish-American Michael Sweeney's Eastern cut-off as a variation of the scissors technique. A solitary innovator at Oregon State University, Dick Fosbury, brought back the high jump into the next century. Taking advantage of the raised, softer, artificially-cushioned landing areas, Fosbury added a new twist to the outmoded Eastern cut-off, directing himself over the bar head and shoulders first, going over on his back. Around the same time, Debbie Brill independently came up with the same technique, which she called the 'Brill Bend'. Despite the rise of the flop, the straddle technique did not disappear at once. On the female side, straddler Rosemarie Ackermann of East Germany was the first female jumper ever to clear 2 m. However, they were the last world record holders using the straddle technique. Since the late 1980s, the flop style has been completely dominant, and all other techniques are almost extinct in serious high jump competitions.
Reader's Guide
The high jump is a track and field event where athletes must leap unaided over a horizontal bar set at measured heights without knocking it off. In its modern form, the bar rests between two upright standards, with a padded crash mat for landing. The event is one of two vertical clearance disciplines in the Olympic athletics program, alongside the pole vault, and is also featured at the World Championships in Athletics and World Athletics Indoor Championships, as well as at many other track and field meets. It was among the first events deemed acceptable for female competitors, having been included in the 1928 Olympic Games. The technique has evolved significantly over time. Early jumpers used a straight-on approach or a scissors technique, where the bar was approached diagonally and the legs crossed over in a scissoring motion. Later, the Eastern cut-off and Western roll styles emerged, followed by the straddle technique, where the jumper rotated belly-down over the bar. The universally preferred method today is the Fosbury flop, in which the athlete runs toward the bar and leaps head first with the back to the bar, a technique made possible by safer, cushioned landing surfaces. This innovation allowed athletes to reach previously unattainable heights. The event’s rules, set by World Athletics, require a single-foot take-off; a jump fails if the bar is dislodged or the jumper touches the ground or any object behind the bar before clearance. Competitors may start at any announced height or pass, and three consecutive missed jumps eliminate the jumper. Victory goes to the jumper who clears the greatest height in the final. Ties are broken by fewest misses at the tied height, then fewest misses overall; if still tied for first, a jump-off may occur, though a 2009 rule change allows shared gold by agreement. The high jump showcases athleticism and technique, with world records standing as benchmarks of human achievement.
Olympic Origins and the Rules of the Discipline
The standing high jump is a track-and-field discipline in which the competitor must launch vertically from a stationary position, both feet planted together on the ground, with no run-up to generate momentum. This fundamental constraint distinguishes it from the conventional high jump, where athletes sprint down a runway before clearing the bar. Despite these appearances, the discipline never achieved the same global footprint as its run-up counterpart, and its competitive life gradually narrowed to a handful of national and regional circuits.
Ray Ewry and the Pinnacle of the Olympic Era
Ray Ewry stands as the defining figure of the standing high jump's Olympic chapter. Ewry's dominance, however, was not confined to a single discipline. He was equally formidable in the standing long jump and the standing triple jump, events that shared the same no-run-up format and rewarded raw lower-body power and explosive coordination. His multi-event success across the standing disciplines made him a household name in early-twentieth-century athletics and gave the standing high jump a marquee athlete whose name is still attached to the event's golden age.
Scandinavian Endurance and the Modern Record
While the standing high jump faded from most of the world's competitive calendars during the twentieth century, it found a remarkable second life in Scandinavia, where it retained championship status well after other nations had abandoned it. This regional persistence produced some of the most impressive marks ever recorded in the discipline. Almén later repeated the same 1.90-metre clearance, and that mark is recognized today as the official world record for the event. The fact that these achievements came decades after the event's Olympic exit underscores how deeply the standing high jump was embedded in Scandinavian athletics culture, where it continued to be measured, competed, and celebrated long after it had become a historical curiosity elsewhere.
A Discipline in Decline
The standing high jump's trajectory is one of steady diminishment. In the United States, it survived primarily as an indoor event at Amateur Athletic Union championships around the turn of the century, a niche role that reflected its declining appeal to broader audiences. The event's popularity waned throughout the twentieth century, and the only region where it maintained a sustained championship status for a notably longer period was Scandinavia.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the high jump?
The high jump is a track-and-field event in which athletes sprint toward a horizontal bar and leap over it without touching or dislodging it, landing on a padded mat. It is one of only two vertical-clearance disciplines (alongside the pole vault) featured in Olympic athletics.
What is the Fosbury flop and why does it matter?
The Fosbury flop is the technique in which a jumper approaches the bar and arches backward over it, clearing it head-first with the back facing the bar. It has become the near-universal method among elite competitors because it allows the center of mass to pass below the bar's height, making greater clearances possible.
When was the high jump first competed as a formal event?
The earliest documented competition took place in England during the 1840s at a gathering of the Royal Military Academy in Woolwich. From that 19th-century military meet, the event evolved into the standardized Olympic discipline we see today.
How does scoring work in a high jump competition?
Athletes attempt to clear the bar at successively higher settings, and each miss is recorded as a failed attempt. A competitor is eliminated after three consecutive misses at any height, and the winner is the one who clears the greatest height with the fewest failures.
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