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 ...

at the Summer Olympics 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 eve ...

jumping events held at the

multi-sport event A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...

. The men's long jump has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the first Summer Olympics in 1896. The women's long jump was introduced over fifty years later in 1948 and was the second Olympic jumping event for women after the high jump, which was added in 1928. The

Olympic records Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games, including: * Archery (list) * Alpine skiing (records recognized only by FIS) * Athletics (list) ...

for the event are for men, set by

Bob Beamon Robert Beamon (born August 29, 1946) is an American former track and field athlete, best known for his world record in the long jump at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. By jumping 8.90 m (29 ft. 2.5 in), he broke the existing record by ...

in 1968, and for women, set by

Jackie Joyner-Kersee Jacqueline Joyner-Kersee (born March 3, 1962) is a retired American track and field athlete, ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the heptathlon as well as long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals in tho ...

in 1988. Beamon's mark is the longest-standing Olympic athletics record by a margin of twelve years and remains the only time a man has set a long jump world record at the competition. The women's world record has been broken on two occasions at the Olympics, with Elżbieta Krzesińska jumping in 1956 and Viorica Viscopoleanu clearing in 1968.12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook Berlin 2009
(pgs. 546, 556, 646). IAAF (2009). Retrieved on 2014-05-03.

Ellery Clark Ellery Harding Clark (March 13, 1874 – July 27, 1949) was an American track and field athlete and a writer. He was the first modern Olympic champion in high jump and long jump.Clark, Former Olympic Champion, Dies at 75, ''Daily Southern Indepe ...

and

Olga Gyarmati Olga Gyarmati (; 5 October 1924 – 27 October 2013) was a Hungarian all-round track and field athlete who competed at three Olympic Games in four different events. Her greatest success was winning the inaugural Olympic Women's Long Jump c ...

were the first men's and women's Olympic long jump champions. Jeff Henderson and

Tianna Bartoletta Tianna Bartoletta née Madison (born August 30, 1985) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the long jump and short sprinting events. She is a two-time Olympian with three gold medals. At the 2012 Summer Olympics she placed ...

are the reigning Olympic champions from 2016.

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. His career spanned from 1979 to 1996 ...

is the event's most successful athlete as he was Olympic champion four times consecutively from 1984 to 1996.

Heike Drechsler Heike Gabriela Drechsler (; ; born 16 December 1964) is a German former track and field athlete who represented East Germany and later Germany. One of the most successful long jumpers of all-time, she is a former world record holder and ranks ...

is the only woman to win two Olympic long jump titles.

Ralph Boston Ralph Harold Boston (born May 9, 1939) is a retired American track athlete who received three Olympic medals and became the first person to break the barrier in the long jump. Early years and education Boston was born in Laurel, Mississippi. ...

and

are the only other two athletes to win three Olympic long jump medals in their careers. The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

is the most successful nation in the event. A standing long jump 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

* The German total includes teams both competing as

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and the

United Team of Germany The United Team of Germany (german: Gesamtdeutsche Mannschaft) was a combined team of athletes from West Germany and East Germany that competed in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Winter and Summer Olympic Games. In 1956, the team also included athletes f ...

, but not East or West Germany.

Standing long jump

From 1900 to 1912 a variation of the event was contested at the Olympics where athletes had to long jump from a standing position. This was one of three standing jumps to have featured on the Olympic programme, alongside the standing high jump (present for the same period) and the standing triple jump (1900 and 1904 only). The standing jump competitions were dominated by

, who won the Olympic standing long jump titles in 1900, 1904 and 1908. His clearance of at the 1904 Olympics remained as the

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games, including: * Archery (list) * Alpine skiing (records recognized only by FIS) * Athletics (list) ...

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,

Kostas Tsiklitiras Konstantinos "Kostas" Tsiklitiras ( el, Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Τσικλητήρας; 30 October 1888 – 10 February 1913) was a Greek athlete and Olympic champion. Born in Pylos, he moved to Athens in 1905 to study commer ...

became the winner of the final Olympic standing long jump competition in 1912. The standing long 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. The Olympic event remains the only major international competition to have featured the event, except for the first three editions of the

Women's World Games The Women's World Games were the first international women's sports events in track and field. The games were held four times between 1922 and 1934. They were established by Alice Milliat and the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (F ...

in the 1920s, as well as 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 ...

. The standing long jump retained some popularity as a championship event in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

in the second half of the century.

Intercalated Games

The 1906 Intercalated Games 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 vari ...

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 long jump event was contested at the 1906 Games. The two protagonists were

Myer Prinstein Myer (or Meyer) Prinstein (born Mejer Prinsztejn, December 22, 1878 – March 10, 1925) was a Polish American track and field athlete and member of the Irish American Athletic Club. He held the world record for the long jump and won gold meda ...

(the 1904 champion) and Peter O'Connor (the world record holder). Prinstein won with his opening jump of . O'Connor was runner-up in but protested the measuring of Prinstein's mark and the judgement of no-jump rulings against him. Hugo Friend was a comfortable third in .Athletics at the 1906 Athina Summer Games: Men's Long Jump
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-03. The standing long jump variant was also contested at the

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 ...

, who entered as the undefeated Olympic champion in the event, won a further gold medal with his mark of . It was an American podium sweep with

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 birthda ...

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 ...

taking second and third place.

Non-canonical Olympic events

In addition to the main 1900 Olympic men's long jump, a handicap competition was held four days later.

Pál Koppán Jenö Pál Koppán (16 May 1878 in Budapest – 31 August 1951 in Budapest) was a Hungarian track and field athlete who competed at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France wi ...

of Hungary won with a mark of 7.895 m (1.60 m handicap) and

John McLean John McLean (March 11, 1785 – April 4, 1861) was an American jurist and politician who served in the United States Congress, as U.S. Postmaster General, and as a justice of the Ohio and U.S. Supreme Courts. He was often discussed for t ...

of the United States came second with 7.72 m (85 cm handicap). Sources differ as to whether the third-place finisher William Percy Remington (who was fourth in the main Olympic event) or Thaddeus McClain (seventh in the Olympic long jump).Handicap Olympic Athletics Events
https://www.sportsandsafetysurfaces.co.uk/athletics/long-jump/]. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-04-18. Two professional sports, professionals-only contests were held in 1900. Mike Sweeney of the United States won with 5.995 m. Another American, Otto Bruno Schoenfeld, was second in 5.60 m, while Frenchman Jules Bouchoux came third in 5.55 m. A handicap professional contest was also held but the results have not been located.Athletics at the 1900 Paris Summer Games: Men's Long Jump, Professionals
Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2014-05-05. The handicap event returned at the 1904 Summer Olympics and the three Olympic finalists who failed to win medals comprised the top three – all of them American. Fred Englehardt won with 6.82 m, Gilbert Van Cleve was runner-up with a mark of 6.53 m, and

John Hagerman John Percival "Percy" Hagerman (October 25, 1881 – February 21, 1960) was a Canadian track and field athlete who competed in the 1904 Summer Olympics. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province o ...

took third, recording 6.53 m. The corresponding handicaps are not known. These events are no longer considered part of the official Olympic history of the long 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 Long 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 long jump homepageOfficial Olympics websiteOlympic athletics records
from ''Track & Field News'' {{History of Olympic athletics events Olympics

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 ...