Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's high jump

Men's high jump
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Dick Fosbury 1968.jpg
Dick Fosbury
VenueEstadio Olímpico Universitario
DatesOctober 19–20
Competitors39 from 25 nations
Winning height2.24 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Dick Fosbury
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ed Caruthers
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Valentin Gavrilov
 Soviet Union
← 1964
1972 →

The men's high jump was one of four men's jumping events on the Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics program in Mexico City. Thirty-nine athletes from 25 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. Dick Fosbury won by using a backward jumping style that was called the Fosbury Flop. This was the unveiling of the new style on the world stage. The style completely revolutionized the sport. By the mid 1970s and ever since, virtually all of the top competitors were using the new style.

For the third straight Games, the podium in the men's high jump was monopolized by Americans and Soviets. Fosbury's gold was the United States' 12th victory in the event. His teammate Ed Caruthers took silver. Valentin Gavrilov's bronze put the Soviet Union on the podium for the fourth straight Games, second only to the United States with 16 consecutive podium appearances.

Summary

At 2.18 metres, high school 'phenomena', Reynaldo Brown and Valery Skvortsov topped out leaving the three medalists Valentin Gavrilov, Ed Caruthers and Richard Fosbury. The medalists were all clean at 2.20 metres. Fosbury took the lead by remaining clean at 2.22 metres, Caruthers needing a second attempt. Garilov couldn't make it. Richard Fosbury established his win by jumping over 2.24 metres on his last attempt, while Caruthers brushed his last attempt off.

Background

This was the 16th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1964 Games were eighth-place finisher Ed Caruthers of the United States, ninth-place finisher Mahamat Idriss of Chad (also a finalist in 1960), tenth-place finisher Lawrie Peckham and thirteenth-place finisher Anthony Sneazwell of Australia, and fourteenth-place finisher Valeriy Skvortsov of the Soviet Union. Viktor Bolshov, who had placed fourth in 1960, also returned.

The Bahamas, Guatemala, Madagascar, and Sierra Leone each made their debut in the event; West Germany competed separately for the first time. The United States appeared for the 16th time, having competed at each edition of the Olympic men's high jump to that point.

Competition format

The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1912. There were two distinct rounds of jumping with results cleared between rounds. The qualifying round had the bar set at 1.80 metres, 1.85 metres, 1.90 metres, 1.95 metres, 2.00 metres, 2.03 metres, 2.06 metres, 2.09 metres, 2.12 metres, and 2.14 metres. All jumpers clearing 2.14 metres in the qualifying round advanced to the final. For the first time, the qualifying mark was set high enough that fewer than 12 jumpers could achieve it; the top 12 (including ties) therefore advanced to the final.

The final had jumps at 2.00 metres, 2.03 metres, 2.06 metres, 2.09 metres, 2.12 metres, and then increased by 0.02 metres until a winner was found. Each athlete had three attempts at each height.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record  Valeriy Brumel (URS) 2.28 Moscow, Soviet Union 21 July 1963
Olympic record  Valeriy Brumel (URS)
 John Thomas (USA)
2.18 Tokyo, Japan 21 October 1964

Dick Fosbury and Ed Caruthers matched the Olympic record at 2.18 metres; Valentin Gavrilov skipped that height. The three men all successfully jumped 2.20 metres, breaking the old record. Fosbury and Caruthers also succeeded at 2.22 metres. Only Fosbury made it over 2.24 metres, setting the new record. He took three attempts at 2.29 metres in an attempt to break the world record, but did not prevail.

Schedule

All times are Central Standard Time (UTC-6)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 19 October 1968 10:00 Qualifying
Sunday, 20 October 1968 14:30 Final

Results

Key

  • o = Height cleared
  • x = Height failed
  • = Height passed
  • r  = Retired
  • SB = Season's best
  • PB = Personal best
  • NR = National record
  • AR = Area record
  • OR = Olympic record
  • WR = World record
  • WL = World lead
  • NM = No mark
  • DNS = Did not start
  • DQ = Disqualified

Qualifying

Rank Athlete Nation 1.80 1.85 1.90 1.95 2.00 2.03 2.06 2.09 2.12 2.14 Height Notes
1 Dick Fosbury  United States o o o 2.14 Q
2 Ed Caruthers  United States o o o o 2.14 Q
3 Valeriy Skvortsov  Soviet Union o o o xo o 2.14 Q
4 Ahmed Senoussi  Chad o o o xo 2.14 Q
5 Giacomo Crosa  Italy o o o o xo 2.14 Q
6 Lawrie Peckham  Australia o o o o o xo 2.14 Q
7 Miodrag Todosijević  Yugoslavia o o o o xxx 2.12 q
8 Ingomar Sieghart  West Germany o o o o o xxx 2.12 q
9 Reynaldo Brown  United States xo o xxx 2.12 q
10 Valentin Gavrilov  Soviet Union o xo o o o xxx 2.12 q
11 Luis María Garriga  Spain xo o xo o o xxx 2.12 q
12 Robert Sainte-Rose  France o o o xo xxx 2.12 q
13 Gunther Spielvogel  West Germany o o o o xo xxx 2.12 q
14 Thomas Zacharias  West Germany o o xxx 2.09
15 Kuniyoshi Sugioka  Japan o o o o xxx 2.09
16 Viktor Bolshov  Soviet Union o xo xo xxx 2.09
17 Bhim Singh  India o o xo o xo xxx 2.09
18 Henry Elliott  France o o xxo xxx 2.09
Jaroslav Alexa  Czechoslovakia o o xxo xxx 2.09
20 Ioannis Kousoulas  Greece o xo o xxo xxx 2.09
21 Mahamat Idriss  Chad o xxx 2.06
22 Tony Sneazwell  Australia o o o xxx 2.06
Teodoro Palacios  Guatemala o o o xxx 2.06
Kenneth Lundmark  Sweden o o o xxx 2.06
Rudolf Hübner  Czechoslovakia o o o xxx 2.06
26 Peter Boyce  Australia o xo xo xxx 2.06
27 Jón Ólafsson  Iceland o xo xxo xo xxx 2.06
28 Michel Portmann  Switzerland o xxo xxx 2.06
29 Fernando Abugattas  Peru xo xxx 2.03
30 Fernand Tovondray  Madagascar o xxo o xxx 2.03
31 Thomas Wieser  Switzerland o o xo xxx 2.03
32 Csaba Dosa  Romania o o o xxo xxo xxx 2.03
33 Wilf Wedmann  Canada o xxx 2.00
Polde Milek  Yugoslavia o xxx 2.00
35 Roberto Abugattas  Peru xo xxx 2.00
36 Anthony Balfour  Bahamas o o o xxx 1.95
37 Hong Son-long  Taiwan o o xxo o xxx 1.95
38 Nurullah Candan  Turkey xxo o xxo o xxx 1.95
39 Marconi Turay  Sierra Leone o o xxo xxx 1.90
Bo-Sven Jonsson  Sweden DNS
Jan-Erik Dahlgren  Sweden DNS
Ababacar Ly  Senegal DNS
Freddy Herbrandt  Belgium DNS
Samuel Igun  Nigeria DNS

Final

The final was held on October 20, 1968. Each jumper again had three attempts at each height, with the bar starting at 2.00 metres. Three jumpers were unable to perform as well as they had in the qualification.

Rank Athlete Nation 2.00 2.03 2.06 2.09 2.12 2.14 2.16 2.18 2.20 2.22 2.24 2.29 Height Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Dick Fosbury  United States o o o o o o xxo xxx 2.24 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ed Caruthers  United States o xxo xxo o xo xxx 2.22
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Valentin Gavrilov  Soviet Union o o o o o o o o xxx 2.20
4 Valery Skvortsov  Soviet Union o xo o xxo o xxo xxx 2.16
5 Reynaldo Brown  United States o o o xxx 2.14
6 Giacomo Crosa  Italy o xo o o o xxx 2.14
7 Gunther Spielvogel  West Germany o o xxo xo xxx 2.14
8 Lawrie Peckham  Australia o o o xo xxx 2.12
9 Robert Sainte-Rose  France o o o xxx 2.09
Ingomar Sieghart  West Germany o o o xxx 2.09
11 Luis María Garriga  Spain o o o xxo xxx 2.09
12 Ahmed Senoussi  Chad xo xxo xxx 2.09
13 Miodrag Todosijević  Yugoslavia o o xxx 2.06

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