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

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Men's high jump
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Dick Fosbury 1968.jpg
Dick Fosbury
Venue Estadio Olímpico Universitario
DatesOctober 19–20
Competitors39 from 25 nations
Winning height2.24 OR
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Dick Fosbury
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Silver medal icon.svg Ed Caruthers
Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Bronze medal icon.svg Valentin Gavrilov
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
  1964
1972  
Official Video Highlights TV-icon-2.svg
Official Video Highlights

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. [1] 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. [2] 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. His teammate Viktor Bolshov, who had placed fourth in 1960, also returned. [1]

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. [1] [3]

Records

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

World recordFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Valeriy Brumel  (URS)2.28 Moscow, Soviet Union 21 July 1963
Olympic recordFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Valeriy Brumel  (URS)
Flag of the United States.svg  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)

DateTimeRound
Saturday, 19 October 196810:00Qualifying
Sunday, 20 October 196814:30Final

Results

Key

Qualifying

RankAthleteNation1.801.851.901.952.002.032.062.092.122.14HeightNotes
1 Dick Fosbury Flag of the United States.svg  United States ooo2.14Q
2 Ed Caruthers Flag of the United States.svg  United States oooo2.14Q
3 Valeriy Skvortsov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union oooxoo2.14Q
4 Ahmed Senoussi Flag of Chad.svg  Chad oooxo2.14Q
5 Giacomo Crosa Flag of Italy.svg  Italy ooooxo2.14Q
6 Lawrie Peckham Flag of Australia.svg  Australia oooooxo2.14Q
7 Miodrag Todosijević Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia ooooxxx2.12q
8 Ingomar Sieghart Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany oooooxxx2.12q
9 Reynaldo Brown Flag of the United States.svg  United States xooxxx2.12q
10 Valentin Gavrilov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union oxooooxxx2.12q
11 Luis María Garriga Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain xooxoooxxx2.12q
12 Robert Sainte-Rose Flag of France.svg  France oooxoxxx2.12q
13 Gunther Spielvogel Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany ooooxoxxx2.12q
14 Thomas Zacharias Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany ooxxx2.09
15 Kuniyoshi Sugioka Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan ooooxxx2.09
16 Viktor Bolshov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union oxoxoxxx2.09
17 Bhim Singh Flag of India.svg  India ooxooxoxxx2.09
18 Henry Elliott Flag of France.svg  France ooxxoxxx2.09
Jaroslav Alexa Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia ooxxoxxx2.09
20 Ioannis Kousoulas Flag of Greece (1828-1978).svg  Greece oxooxxoxxx2.09
21 Mahamat Idriss Flag of Chad.svg  Chad oxxx2.06
22 Tony Sneazwell Flag of Australia.svg  Australia oooxxx2.06
Teodoro Palacios Flag of Guatemala.svg  Guatemala oooxxx2.06
Kenneth Lundmark Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden oooxxx2.06
Rudolf Hübner Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia oooxxx2.06
26 Peter Boyce Flag of Australia.svg  Australia oxoxoxxx2.06
27 Jón Ólafsson Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland oxoxxoxoxxx2.06
28 Michel Portmann Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland oxxoxxx2.06
29 Fernando Abugattás Flag of Peru.svg  Peru xoxxx2.03
30 Fernand Tovondray Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar oxxooxxx2.03
31 Thomas Wieser Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland ooxoxxx2.03
32 Csaba Dosa Flag of Romania (1965-1989).svg  Romania oooxxoxxoxxx2.03
33 Wilf Wedmann Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada oxxx2.00
Polde Milek Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia oxxx2.00
35 Roberto Abugattás Flag of Peru.svg  Peru xoxxx2.00
36 Anthony Balfour Flag of the Bahamas (1964-1973).svg  Bahamas oooxxx1.95
37 Hong Son-long Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Taiwan ooxxooxxx1.95
38 Nurullah Candan Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey xxooxxooxxx1.95
39 Marconi Turay Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone ooxxoxxx1.90
Bo-Sven JonssonFlag of Sweden.svg  Sweden DNS
Jan-Erik DahlgrenFlag of Sweden.svg  Sweden DNS
Ababacar LyFlag of Senegal.svg  Senegal DNS
Freddy HerbrandtFlag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium DNS
Samuel Igun Flag of Nigeria.svg  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.

RankAthleteNation2.002.032.062.092.122.142.162.182.202.222.242.29HeightNotes
Gold medal icon.svg Dick Fosbury Flag of the United States.svg  United States ooooooxxoxxx2.24 OR
Silver medal icon.svg Ed Caruthers Flag of the United States.svg  United States oxxoxxooxoxxx2.22
Bronze medal icon.svg Valentin Gavrilov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union ooooooooxxx2.20
4 Valery Skvortsov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union oxooxxooxxoxxx2.16
5 Reynaldo Brown Flag of the United States.svg  United States oooxxx2.14
6 Giacomo Crosa Flag of Italy.svg  Italy oxooooxxx2.14
7 Gunther Spielvogel Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany ooxxoxoxxx2.14
8 Lawrie Peckham Flag of Australia.svg  Australia oooxoxxx2.12
9 Robert Sainte-Rose Flag of France.svg  France oooxxx2.09
Ingomar Sieghart Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany oooxxx2.09
11 Luis María Garriga Flag of Spain (1945-1977).svg  Spain oooxxoxxx2.09
12 Ahmed Senoussi Flag of Chad.svg  Chad xoxxoxxx2.09
13 Miodrag Todosijević Flag of SFR Yugoslavia.svg  Yugoslavia ooxxx2.06

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "High Jump, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  2. "Athletics at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Men's High Jump". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  3. Official Report, vol. 3, p. 526.