The

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 f ...

at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

is grouped among the four

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

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 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...

. The women's high jump was one of five events to feature on the first women's athletics programme in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhanov, J ...

, and it was the only jumping event available to women until 1948, when the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

was permitted. The Olympic records for the event are for men, set by

Charles Austin Charles Allen Austin (born December 19, 1967) is an American athlete who won the gold medal in the men's high jump at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He was inducted into the United States Track & Field Hall of Fame in 2012. Currently, Ch ...

in 1996, and for women, set by

Yelena Slesarenko Yelena Vladimirovna Slesarenko, née Sivushenko (russian: Елена Владимировна Слесаренко; born February 28, 1982 in Volgograd) is a Russian high jumper. Largely unknown before 2004, she kick started the season by cleari ...

Gerd Wessig Gerd Wessig (, ; born 16 July 1959 in Lübz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern) was an 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 li ...

is the only man to have set a

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the Olympic high jump, having done so in 1980 with a mark of . The women's world record has been broken on three occasions at the Olympics, with records coming in 1928, 1932 and 1972.12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook Berlin 2009
(pgs. 554–55, 546, 644–5). IAAF (2009). Retrieved on 2014-05-03. Ellery Clark was the first Olympic champion in 1896 and

Ethel Catherwood Ethel Hannah Catherwood (April 28, 1908 – September 26, 1987) was a Canadian athlete. Born in Hannah, North Dakota, United States, Ethel Catherwood was raised and educated in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, where she excelled at baseball, ...

became the first female Olympic high jump champion 32 years later. Following the 2020 Olympics,

Gianmarco Tamberi Gianmarco Tamberi (born 1 June 1992) is an Italian high jumper, current Olympic champion (2020 Summer Olympics) and World indoor champion (2016). He won the 2021 Diamond League crown, becoming the first ever Italian to do so, and repeated this ...

from Italy and

Mutaz Essa Barshim Mutaz Essa Barshim ( ar, معتز عيسى برشم, Muʿtazz ʿĪsā Baršim; born 24 June 1991) is a Qatari track and field athlete who competes in the high jump and is the current Olympic Champion (2020). He is also the current World Champio ...

from Qatar are the reigning men's Olympic champions and

Mariya Lasitskene Mariya Aleksandrovna Lasitskene (russian: Мария Александровна Ласицкене, ; ; born 14 January 1993) is a Russian athlete who specialises in the high jump. She is the 2020 Olympic champion and three-time world champion ...

representing the

Russian Olympic Committee The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC; russian: Олимпийский комитет России (ОКР), Olimpiyskiy komitet Rossii (OKR); Full name: All-Russian united social union "Olympic Committee of Russia", russian: Общероссий� ...

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 The standing high jump is an athletics event that was featured in the Olympics from 1900 to 1912. It is performed in the same way as high jump, with the difference being that the athlete has no run-up and must stand still and jump with both feet ...

variant of the event was contested from 1900 to 1912 and standing jumps specialist

Ray Ewry Raymond "Ray" Clarence Ewry (October 14, 1873 – September 29, 1937) was an American track and field athlete who won eight gold medals at the Olympic Games and two gold medals at the Intercalated Games (1906 in Athens). This puts him among the ...

won all but one of the gold medals in its brief history.

Medalists

Men

Multiple medalists

Medalists by country

Women

Multiple medalists

Medalists by country

Standing high jump

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 The standing long jump, also known as the standing broad jump, is an athletics event. It was an Olympic event until 1912. It is one of three standing variants of track and field jumping events, which also include the standing high jump and ...

(present for the same period) and the

standing triple jump Standing triple jump is an athletics event based on the conventional triple jump with three jumping phases, but without an approach run-up. It is one of three standing variants of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athle ...

(1900 and 1904 only). The standing jump competitions were dominated by

, who won the Olympic standing high jump titles in 1900, 1904 and 1908. His clearance of 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.Ray Ewry
. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-07. After Ewry's retirement,

Platt Adams Platt Adams (March 23, 1885 – February 27, 1961) was an American athlete. He competed in various events at the 1908 and 1912 Olympics and won a gold and a silver medal in jumping events in 1912.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. 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 The South American Championships in Athletics is a biennial athletics event organized by CONSUDATLE. The first edition in 1919 was competed between only two countries (Chile and Uruguay), but it has since expanded and has generally been held every t ...

. The standing high jump retained some popularity as a championship event in Scandinavia in the second half of the century.

Intercalated Games

The

1906 Intercalated Games The 1906 Intercalated Games or 1906 Olympic Games was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated in Athens, Greece. They were at the time considered to be Olympic Games and were referred to as the "Second International Olympic Games i ...

were held in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

and at the time were officially recognised as part of the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

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 The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(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. 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 Cornelius "Con" Leahy (27 April 1876 – 18 December 1921) was an Irish athlete, who won medals at the 1906 Intercalated Games and the 1908 Olympic Games for Great Britain. Biography Leahy was born in Creggane, outside Bruree, on the Coun ...

won the event for Great Britain with a mark of 1.775 m.

Lajos Gönczy Lajos Gönczy (24 February 1881 – 3 December 1915)Lajos Gön ...

of Hungary, a 1900 high jump medallist, returned to the Olympic podium with 1.75 m for second. American

Bert Kerrigan Herbert William Kerrigan (January 24, 1879 – September 10, 1959) was an American track and field athlete who competed mainly in the high jump. Biography He was born in Portland, Oregon and died in San Francisco. Kerrigan competed for the Multn ...

, who also competed in the pole vault and standing long jump, took third place alongside

Themistoklis Diakidis Themistoklis Diakidis ( el, Θεμιστοκλής Διακίδης; August 22, 1882 – May 8, 1944) was a Greek track and field athlete who competed in the high jump. Diakidis was a member of Gymnastiki Etaireia Patron, that merged in 1923 wi ...

of Greece.Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's High Jump
. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-03. The standing high jump variant was also contested at the Intercalated Games.

, who entered as the undefeated Olympic champion in the event, won a further gold medal with his mark of . Second place was a tie between

Martin Sheridan Martin John Sheridan (March 28, 1881 – March 27, 1918) was a three time Olympic Games gold medallist. He was born in Bohola, County Mayo, Ireland, and died in St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan, New York, the day before his 37th birthday ...

Léon Dupont Léon Dupont (18 May 1881 – 4 October 1956) was a Belgian athlete who mainly competed in the standing high jump. He competed for Belgium in the 1906 Intercalated Games held in Athens, Greece in the standing high jump where he won the sil ...

and

Lawson Robertson Lawson N. Robertson (September 23, 1883 – January 22, 1951) was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a member of and trainer for the Irish American Athletic Club, and competed for the U.S. Olympic T ...

, whose joint marks of was some way behind the winner.

Non-canonical Olympic events

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 Teodor "Tore" Blom (April 23, 1880 in Lilla Edet – September 24, 1961 in Bromma, Stockholm) was a Swedish track and field athlete who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. Blom competed in the long jump and the high jump T ...

was first with 2.05 m (35 cm handicap),

Gyula Strausz Gyula László János Strausz (26 February 1880 – 18 March 1949 in Budapest) was a Hungarian track and field athlete who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900, link=no), today ...

placed second in 2.00 m (also 35 cm), while third place went to Waldemar Steffen with 1.95 m (30 cm handicap).Handicap Olympic Athletics Events
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-04-18. 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 Otto Bruno Schoenfeld (August 27, 1871 – August 26, 1938) was an all-round sportsman, competing at fencing, wrestling and boxing. Born in 1871 in Leipzig, Germany, he came to the United States as a boy, his family originally settling in Milwauke ...

, 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.Athletics at the 1900 Paris Summer Games: Men's High Jump, Professionals
. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-05. The handicap event returned at the

1904 Summer Olympics The 1904 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the III Olympiad and also known as St. Louis 1904) were an international multi-sport event held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from 29 August to 3 September 1904, as part of an extended s ...

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. 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.

References

;Participation and athlete data
Athletics Men's High Jump Medalists
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-03.

Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-03. ;Olympic record progressions *Mallon, Bill (2012)
TRACK & FIELD ATHLETICS - OLYMPIC RECORD PROGRESSIONS
''

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runni ...

''. Retrieved on 2014-05-03. ;Specific

External links

IAAF high jump homepageOfficial Olympics websiteOlympic athletics records
from ''Track & Field News'' {{History of Olympic athletics events

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

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 f ...