AthleticsAthletics world record

High jump, men

Record

2.45 m

8.04 ft

Holder
Javier Sotomayor
Date
Place
Salamanca
Standing since
1993 (33 years)

✓ Value cross-checked in a second source

High jump, men
Photo: ZBOBZ · CC BY 2.0 · Remove this photo

How the record evolved

Chart of the High jump, men record, from 1914 to 1993 1914 2026 2.01 m 2.45 m

The last record set in each decade, up to the current record (highlighted).

YearRecordHolder
2.45 mJavier Sotomayor
2.44 mJavier Sotomayor (CUB)
2.34 mVladimir Yashchenko (URS)
2.28 mValeriy Brumel (URS)
2.16 mYuriy Stepanov (URS)
2.11 mLester Steers (USA)
2.09 mMel Walker (USA)
2.03 mHarold Osborn (USA)
2.01 mEdward Beeson (USA)

Put them in order

Sort these records from the oldest to the most recent.

  1. 2.45 mJavier Sotomayor
  2. 2.11 mLester Steers (USA)
  3. 2.28 mValeriy Brumel (URS)
  4. 2.01 mEdward Beeson (USA)

What to remember

A bar, two standards and a crash mat: in the high jump, athletes must clear a bar set at a measured height, unaided and without knocking it off. In Salamanca on July 27, 1993, at the Gran Premio Diputación, Cuba's Javier Sotomayor went over it at 2.45 m (8 ft ¼ in).

In 1914, the record stood at 2.01 m, held by American Edward Beeson. Americans rule the early decades, with Harold Osborn, Mel Walker and Lester Steers, before the Soviets Yuriy Stepanov, Valeriy Brumel, at 2.28 m in 1963, and Vladimir Yashchenko, at 2.34 m in 1978. Sotomayor broke it in 1989 with 2.44 m, then again in 1993. In 79 years the best mark rose by 21.9%.

Sotomayor won Olympic gold in 1992 and silver in 2000. He took two outdoor world titles and four world indoor golds between 1989 and 1999. In 1989 he also jumped 2.43 m indoors, the indoor world record. Twenty-one times in his career he cleared a bar above 2.40 m.

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