The men's high jump event was part of the track and field athletics programme at the 1948 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on July 30, 1948. Twenty-seven athletes from 16 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by John Winter of Australia. It was Australia's first victory in the men's high jump, and only the second time a jumper from outside the United States had won. Bjorn Paulson earned Norway's first medal in the event with a silver. George Stanich took bronze, keeping alive the United States' streak of medaling in every edition of the men's high jump.
Background
This was the 11th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. None of the finalists from the pre-war 1936 Games returned. The American team, which had won 9 of 10 Olympics and had "dominated the world lists in 1948," was favored.
India, Puerto Rico, Singapore, and Uruguay each made their debut in the event. The United States appeared for the 11th 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 1.60 metres, 1.70 metres, 1.80 metres, 1.84 metres, and 1.87 metres. All jumpers clearing 1.87 metres in the qualifying round advanced to the final. The final had jumps at 1.80 metres, 1.87 metres, 1.90 metres, 1.95 metres, and 1.98 metres. This competition used the tie-breaker rule of fewer-misses for the first time.Official Report, p. 266.
Records
Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
Schedule
All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)
Date Time Round Friday, 30 July 1948 11:0016:30 QualifyingFinal
Results
Qualifying round
Qual. rule: qualification standard 1.87m (Q) or at least best 12 qualified (q).
Rank Athlete Nation Height Notes 1 John Winter 1.87 Bjørn Paulson 1.87 George Stanich 1.87 Dwight Eddleman 1.87 Georges Damitio 1.87 Art Jackes 1.87 Alan Paterson 1.87 Hans Wahli 1.87 Alfredo Jadresic 1.87 Göran Widenfelt 1.87 Pierre Lacaze 1.87 Adegboyega Folaranmi Adedoyin 1.87 Birger Leirud 1.87 Hércules Azcune 1.87 Lloyd Valberg 1.87 Vern McGrew 1.87 Kuuno Honkonen 1.87 Gurnam Singh 1.87 Bjørn Gundersen 1.87 Nils Nicklén 1.87 21 Arnulf Pilhatsch 1.84 Benjamín Casado 1.84 Claude Bénard 1.84 Ioannis Lambrou 1.84 Pedro Listur 1.84 Arne Åhman 1.84 27 Ron Pavitt 1.80
Final
Rank Athlete Nation 1.80 1.871.901.951.98 Height John Winter o oo xo o 1.98 Bjørn Paulson o o oo xxx 1.95 George Stanich o o o xxo xxx 1.954 Dwight Eddleman o oxo xxo xxx 1.955 Georges Damitio o oxxo xxo xxx 1.956 Art Jackes o oo xxx 1.90 7 Alan Paterson o xo xo xxx 1.90 Hans Wahli o xoxo xxx 1.90 9 Alfredo Jadresic ? ? xxo xxx 1.90 Göran Widenfelt ? ? xxo xxx 1.90 Pierre Lacaze ? ? xxo xxx 1.9012 Adegboyega Folaranmi Adedoyin ? ? xxo xxx 1.9013 Birger Leirud ? ? xxo xxx 1.90 14 Hércules Azcune ? xxx colspan=3 1.80 Lloyd Valberg ? xxx colspan=3 1.8016 Vern McGrew ? xxx colspan=3 1.8017 Kuuno Honkonen ? xxx colspan=3 1.8018 Gurnam Singh ? xxx colspan=3 1.80 — Bjørn Gundersen xxx colspan=4 No mark Nils Nicklén xxx colspan=4 No mark
References
Sources Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, The (1948). The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad. LA84 Foundation. Retrieved 7 September 2016.