Athletics At The 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's High Jump

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.

Men's high jump at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Dick Fosbury
Venue	Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Dates	October 19–20
Competitors	39 from 25 nations
Winning height	2.24 OR
Medalists
Dick Fosbury  United States Ed Caruthers  United States Valentin Gavrilov  Soviet Union
← 1964 1972 →

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

All times are Central Standard Time (UTC-6)

Key

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 Abugattás	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 Abugattás	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
	Dick Fosbury	United States	—	o	—	o	—	o	—	o	o	o	xxo	xxx	2.24	OR
	Ed Caruthers	United States	—	—	—	o	—	xxo	—	xxo	o	xo	xxx	—	2.22
	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