High jump
The high jump is a track and field 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, today employing the universally preferred Fosbury Flop, in which athletes run towards the bar and leap head first with their back to the bar.
The discipline is, alongside the pole vault, one of two vertical clearance events in the Olympic athletics program. It is contested at the World Championships in Athletics and the World Athletics Indoor Championships, 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 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 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 are Technical Rules TR26 and TR27. 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, 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.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 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 of Romania, used this style to dominate women's high jump for about 10 years until her retirement in 1967.
Another American, George Horine, developed an even more efficient technique, the Western roll. 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, 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. 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 feet, in 1956. American John Thomas pushed the world mark to in 1960. Valeriy Brumel 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, before a motorcycle accident in 1965 ended his career.
File:EthelCatherwood1928.jpg|thumb|Gold medal winner Ethel Catherwood of Canada scissors over the bar at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Her winning result was.
American coaches, including two-time NCAA champion Frank Costello of the University of Maryland, flocked to Russia to learn from Brumel and his coaches like Vladimir Dyachkov. However, it would be a solitary innovator at Oregon State University, Dick Fosbury, 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, 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 from West Germany won the gold medal of the 1972 Munich Olympics at, which tied the women's world record at that time. However, it was not until 1978 when a flopper, Sara Simeoni 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 ; Chinese record-setters Ni-chi Chin and Zhu Jianhua; Germans Gerd Wessig and Dietmar Mögenburg; Swedish Olympic medalist and former world record holder Patrik Sjöberg; female jumpers Ulrike Meyfarth of West Germany and Sara Simeoni of Italy.
In spite of this, the straddle technique did not disappear at once. In 1977, the 18-year-old Soviet straddler Vladimir Yashchenko 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, which was the last time for a straddle jumper to win an Olympic medal.
In 1980, the Polish flopper, 1976 Olympic gold medalist Jacek Wszoła, broke Yashchenko's world record at. Two years before, the female Italian flopper Sara Simeoni, 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, 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. The approach angle is critical for optimal height. Athletes generally mark their approach in order to find as much consistency as possible.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, 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.