The men's high jump at the 1952 Olympic Games took place on 20 July at the Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Thirty-six athletes from 24 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. American athlete Walt Davis won the gold medal and set a new Olympic record. It was the Americans' 10th victory in the men's high jump. José da Conceição won Brazil's first medal in the men's high jump, with bronze.

Background

This was the 12th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1948 Games were fifth-place finisher Georges Damitio of France, seventh-place finishers Alan Paterson of Great Britain and Hans Wahli of Switzerland, thirteenth-place finisher Birger Leirud of Norway, fourteenth-place finisher Hércules Azcune of Uruguay, and nineteenth-place finisher Bjørn Gundersen of Norway. The "heavy favorite" in 1952 was Walt Davis.

Ceylon, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Israel, Nigeria, the Soviet Union, and Venezuela each made their debut in the event. The United States appeared for the 12th 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 1.70 metres, 1.80 metres, 1.84 metres, and 1.87 metres; some jumpers apparently took jumps at lower heights as well. All jumpers clearing 1.87 metres in the qualifying round advanced to the final. The final had jumps at 1.70 metres (which most finalists skipped), 1.80 metres, 1.90 metres, 1.95 metres, 1.98 metres, 2.01 metres, 2.04 metres, and 2.07 metres. Each athlete had three attempts at each height.Official Report, p. 308.

Records

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

Walt Davis cleared 2.04 metres to break the Olympic record. His attempts at 2.07 metres were unsuccessful.

Schedule

All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)

Date Time Round Sunday, 20 July 1952 10:0015:00 QualifyingFinal

Results

Qualifying round

Qualification Criteria: Qualifying Performance 1.87 advance to the Final.

Rank Group Athlete Nation 1.70 1.80 1.84 1.87 Height Notes 1 A Arnold Betton — — — o 1.87 A Walt Davis — — — o 1.87 B Gösta Svensson — — — o 1.87 4 A Bjørn Gundersen — — o o 1.87 B Josia Majekodummi — — o o 1.87 B Nafiu Osagie — — o o 1.87 B James Owoo — — o o 1.87 B Ken Wiesner — — o o 1.87 9 A Boniface Guobadia — o o o 1.87 10 A Claude Bénard o o o o 1.87 A Jacques Delelienne o o o o 1.87 A Mihajlo Dimitrijević o o o o 1.87 A Pekka Halme o o o o 1.87 A Albert Koskinen o o o o 1.87 B Alan Paterson o o o o 1.87 B Ron Pavitt o o o o 1.87 B José da Conceição o o o o 1.87 B Hans Wahli o o o o 1.87 B Peter Wells o o o o 1.87 20 A Georges Damitio ? ? ? o 1.87 , one miss before 1.87 21 B Birger Leirud — ? ? o 1.87 , two misses before 1.87 22 B Arne Ljungqvist — — — xo 1.87 B Ioan Soter — — — xo 1.87 24 A Yury Ilyasov — ? ? xo 1.87 , two misses before 1.87 25 A Pat Leane ? ? ? xo 1.87 , two misses before 1.87 26 B Maram Sudarmodjo — o o xxo 1.87 27 A Teófilo Davis o o o xxo 1.87 28 B Yevhen Vansovych — ? ? xxo 1.87 , two misses before 1.87 29 A Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam ? ? o xxx 1.84 Two misses before 1.84, started under 1.70 metres 30 A Walter Herssens o o xxo xxx 1.84 Started under 1.70 metres 31 A Andres Franco ? ? xxo xxx 1.84 One miss before 1.84, started under 1.70 metres 32 A Hércules Azcune o o xxx 1.80 A Ernesto Lagos o o xxx 1.80 34 B Mehnga Singh o xxx colspan=2 1.70 35 A Arieh Batun-Kleinstub o xxx colspan=2 1.70 Started under 1.70 metres 36 B Emad El-Din Shafei xo xxx colspan=2 1.70 ? Oleg Mamonov colspan=4 ? Kamtorn Sanidwong colspan=4

Final

The final was held on July 20.

Rank Athlete Nation 1.701.801.901.951.982.012.042.07 Height Notes Walt Davis – o o o oo oxxx 2.04 Ken Wiesner – o o o o o xxx 2.01 José da Conceição – o o o o xxx colspan=2 1.98 4 Gösta Svensson – – o – xxo xxx colspan=2 1.985 Ron Pavitt o o o o xxx colspan=3 1.956 Ioan Soter – – o xo xxx colspan=3 1.957 Arnold Betton – o o xo xxx colspan=3 1.958 Bjørn Gundersen – – o xxx colspan=4 1.90 9 Jacques Delelienne – o o xxx colspan=4 1.90 Josiah Majekodunmi – o o xxx colspan=4 1.90 11 Pekka Halme o o o xxx colspan=4 1.90 Peter Wells o o o xxx colspan=4 1.90 13 Georges Damitio – xo o xxx colspan=4 1.90 Yury Ilyasov – xo o xxx colspan=4 1.9015 Arne Ljungqvist – – xxo xxx colspan=4 1.9016 Hans Wahli – o xo xxx colspan=4 1.9017 Birger Leirud – – xxo xxx colspan=4 1.90 18 Claude Bénard – o xxo xxx colspan=4 1.90 Nafiu Osagie – o xxo xxx colspan=4 1.90 20 Mihajlo Dimitrijević – o xxx colspan=5 1.80 Boniface Guobadia – o xxx colspan=5 1.80 James Owoo – o xxx colspan=5 1.80 Maram Sudarmodjo – o xxx colspan=5 1.80 24 Téofilo Davis o o xxx colspan=5 1.80 Albert Koskinen o o xxx colspan=5 1.80 Pat Leane o o xxx colspan=5 1.80 Alan Paterson o o xxx colspan=5 1.8028 Yevhen Vansovych – xo xxx colspan=5 1.80

References

External links Official Olympic Report, la84.org.