High Jump at the Olympics
High jump for both men and women is contested as part of the track and field events at the Olympics. A men's high jump event has been a held at the games since the first Olympics in 1896, and the women's high jump was later added in 1928. A standing version of high jump was also contested for a brief period from 1900 to 1912 after which it was discontinued.
The United States has been the most successful in Olympic high jump events winning a total of 44 medals thus far (including Tokyo 2020).
Though there are men who have won multiple medals, it is a surprising fact that, in the history of the event, no man has won the gold medal multiple times. In the women's event however, Iolanda Balaş of Romania and Ulrike Meyfarth of Germany have each won gold medals twice.
The Olympic records stand at of 2.39 m (7 ft 10 in) for the men's event, held by Charles Austin set in 1996. For the women's event, the record of 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) was set by Yelena Slesarenko in 2004.
Trivia
- It was an exciting high jump competition at Tokyo 2020, with a record number of jumpers going over 2.35m. Qatar's Mutaz Barshim and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi finished in a tie, both clearing 2.37m, and agreed to share the gold medal rather than participate in a tie-breaker jump off.
Related Pages
- About Track and Field at the Olympics
- See more on the Greatest T&F Athletes at the Olympics.
- A discontinued Olympic event the Standing High Jump
- List of Olympic Sports
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