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 until developing the universally preferred Fosbury Flop, in which athletes run towards the bar and leap head first with their back to the bar.
A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά and ἄθλος. A competitor in a heptathlon is referred to as a heptathlete.
Carolina Evelyn Klüft is a retired Swedish track and field athlete who competed in the heptathlon, pentathlon, long jump and triple jump. She was an Olympic Champion, having won the heptathlon title in 2004. She was also a three-time World heptathlon champion, World Indoor pentathlon champion, a two-time European heptathlon champion and a two-time European Indoor pentathlon champion. Klüft is the only athlete ever to win three consecutive world titles in the heptathlon. She was unbeaten in 22 heptathlon and pentathlon competitions from 2002 to 2007, her entire combined events career as a senior athlete, winning nine consecutive gold medals in major championships.
Ulrike Nasse-Meyfarth is a German former high jumper. She won the Olympic title twice, in 1972 and 1984. She is the youngest Olympic champion ever in women's high jump, and at the time of her 1984 triumph, she also was the oldest ever.
Stefka Georgieva Kostadinova is a Bulgarian former athlete who competed in the high jump. Her world record of 2.09 metres stood since 1987 until being broken by Yaroslava Mahuchikh in 2024. She is the 1996 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion, and a five-time World Indoor champion. She has been the president of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee since 2005.
Blanka Vlašić is a Croatian former track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump. She is a two-time world champion and double Olympic medallist who ranks as the joint third- highest female jumper of all time with her personal best of 2.08 m. She is the Croatian record holder in the event, and a former indoor world champion.
Yelena Vladimirovna Slesarenko, née Sivushenko is a Russian high jumper.
Tamara Vladimirovna Bykova is a Russian former track and field athlete who represented the Soviet Union and competed in the high jump. She is the 1983 World Champion, the 1987 World Championship silver medallist, the 1988 Olympic bronze medallist, and is a former world record holder, with clearances of 2.03 and 2.04 metres in 1983 and 2.05 metres in 1984. She also won silver medals at the 1982 European Championships, the 1989 and 1991 World Indoor Championships, and three times at the World Cup.
Anna Vladimirovna Chicherova is a Russian high jumper. She was the gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2011 World Championships in Athletics and was originally awarded a bronze medal in the event at the 2008 Summer Olympics, which was later stripped for doping. She was also runner-up at the World Championships in 2007 and 2013, as well as the bronze medalist in 2015.
Ariane Friedrich is a German high jumper. She won the silver medal at the 2009 World Championships and represented Germany at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 Summer Olympics. She is the German outdoor record holder in the event with a best of 2.06 m, although this is 1 cm less than the indoor record held by Heike Henkel.
Mutaz Essa Barsham is a Qatari track and field athlete who competes in the high jump and is the former Olympic Champion. He is also the former World Champion and second highest jumper of all-time with a personal best of 2.43. He won gold at the 2017 World Championships in London, at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, as well as the 2022 World Championships in Eugene. At the Olympics, Barsham originally won the full set of medals with bronze at the London 2012 Summer Olympics, silver at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, and shared gold at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. In 2021, his bronze in the London 2012 Summer Olympics was promoted to silver in a three-way tie for second due to disqualification of the original gold medalist, leaving him with two silvers and a gold. His bronze at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics yet again completed his full set of Olympic medals. He was the Asian Indoor and World Junior champion in 2010, and won the high jump gold medals at the 2011 Asian Athletics Championships and 2011 Military World Games. He holds the Asian record in high jump.
Mariya Aleksandrovna Lasitskene is a Russian athlete who specialises in the high jump. She is the 2020 Olympic champion and three-time world champion. With her victory in Tokyo, Lasitskene became the fourth female high jumper in history to win gold at both the Olympic Games and the World Championships.
The Women's high jump competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 9–11 August.
The women's high jump at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 27 and 29 August.
The women's pole vault at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 24 and 26 August. 2013 Champion and world record holder Yelena Isinbayeva did not defend her title having given birth to her first child in 2014.
Emilia Dragieva is a Bulgarian former track and field athlete who specialised in the high jump. Her personal best was 2.00 m, which she set while winning her sole international medal – a bronze at the 1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
The women's high jump at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships took place at Arena Birmingham in Birmingham, United Kingdom, on 1 March 2018.
Yaroslava Oleksiivna Mahuchikh is a Ukrainian high jumper and women's high jump world record holder. She won the gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics, 2023 World Championships and 2022 World Indoor Championships. Mahuchikh is also the 2020 Summer Olympics bronze medalist, 2019 and 2022 World Championships silver medalist and 2024 World Indoor Championships silver medalist.
The women's high jump at the 2019 World Athletics Championships was held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar, from 27 to 30 September 2019.
The women's high jump at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held in Paris, France, on 2 and 4 August 2024. This was the 23rd time that the event was contested at the Summer Olympics.
