The men's high jump at the 2024 Summer Olympics was held in Paris, France, on 7 and 10 August 2024. This was the 30th time that the event was contested at the Summer Olympics.
Summary
Athletics (track and field) rulebooks across the world provide for the same procedure to break ties for first place in a vertical jump. There is no means of enforcement,as tied athletes cannot be required to make another jump. Jump offs were held at major championships for over a hundred years until the previous Olympic Games when both Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi agreed to share the gold medal at Barshim's suggestion. Since then Nina Kennedy and Katie Moon also agreed to share the gold medal in the Women's Pole Vault at the 2023 World Championships. The possibility of a jump-off has been a subject of discussion. Both Barshim and Tamberi return, Tamberi as seasonal world leader. #2 Hamish Kerr has been outspoken online that he will not be sharing a gold if it comes to that. Barshim won the 2022 World Championships ahead of Woo Sang-hyeok and Andriy Protsenko. Tamberi won in 2023 over JuVaughn Harrison and Barshim.
During the qualifying round, Barshim struggled with severe cramps. His fellow Olympic medalist, Tamberi, rushed over to help massage the cramping calf. Protsenko couldn't get over a bar. Harrison topped out at 2.20 and didn't advance. It was so tight, two people who cleared 2.24m but had excessive misses did not advance.
Hours before the final, Tamberi was taken to the Emergency Room, vomiting blood. He arrived to the stadium and cleared 2.27m but was not able to go higher. Six jumpers were able to get over 2.31m; Shelby McEwen and Barshim still had perfect rounds going. Kerr took three attempts to get over. At 2.34m, Stefano Sottile, Kerr and Barshim got over on their first attempts, putting Barshim in first place, still with a perfect round going. McEwen jumped over the bar cleanly for a new personal best, clearing it on his third attempt. Moving the bar to 2.36m, after Barshim and Sottile missed, McEwen flew over the bar on his first attempt, celebrating his second personal best of the competition in the pit. Moments later, Kerr also cleared it cleanly on his first attempt. No matter what Barshim and Sottile did at this height, McEwen and Kerr were tied with a first-attempt clearance of the most recent height and two total misses in the competition. Barshim took one more attempt then passed for one remaining successful jump at the next height. Sottile took both of his remaining attempts and, after missing the second, was guaranteed fourth place. At 2.38m, Barshim missed his attempt, leaving him with the bronze medal, his fourth Olympic medal. McEwen and Kerr both missed all three of their attempts at what would be their personal bests. But they were still tied.
True to his online statement, Kerr wanted to keep going and refused to share the gold medal. There was going to be a jump off. The jumping order remained the same, McEwen jumping first and Kerr jumping last. The first step was to jump at the height they had just missed. Both missed again. The athletes then attempted the height they had last cleared. Again both missed. So next they are to jump one height back, 2.34m. Both athletes were now on their 14th attempt of the competition. McEwen missed, then Kerr cleared. He leaped out of the pit and ran into the infield to celebrate his victory.
Background The men's high jump has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since the inaugural edition in 1896. +Global records before the 2024 Summer OlympicsRecordAthlete (Nation)Height (m)LocationDateWorld record2.45"All time Top lists – Senior – High jump men ", World Athletics, 29 June 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.Salamanca, Spain27 July 1993Olympic record2.39Atlanta, United States28 July 1996World leading2.37"Season Top Lists – Senior 2024 – High jump men ", World Athletics, 2024. Retrieved 29 June 2024.Rome, Italy11 June 2024 +Area records before the 2024 Summer OlympicsArea RecordAthlete (Nation)Height (m)Africa (records)2.38Asia (records)2.43Europe (records)2.422.42 iNorth, Central Americaand Caribbean (records)2.45 WROceania (records)2.362.36 iSouth America (records)2.33
Qualification
For the men's high jump event, the qualification period was between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024. 32 athletes were able to qualify for the event, with a maximum of three athletes per nation, by jumping the entry standard of 2.33 m or higher or by their World Athletics Ranking for this event.
Results
Qualification The qualification was held on 7 August, starting at 10:05 (UTC+2) in the morning. 32 athletes qualified for the first round by qualification mark or world ranking."Paris 2024 - Olympic Schedule - Athletics ", Olympics.com. Retrieved 29 June 2024. All athletes meeting the Qualification Standard 2.29 (Q) or at least the 12 best performers (q) advanced to the final.
Rank Group Athlete Nation 2.15 2.20 2.24 2.27 2.29 Height Notes 1 A Shelby McEwen o – o o 2.27 2 B Hamish Kerr o xxo xo o 2.27 3 A Mutaz Barsham o o o xo 2.27 A Woo Sang-hyeok o o o xo 2.27 5 A Ryoichi Akamatsu o o xxo xo 2.27 , 6 A Stefano Sottile o o o xxx 2.24 B Gianmarco Tamberi – o o xxx 2.24 8 B Romaine Beckford o xo o xxx 2.24 9 A Brian Raats o xxo o xxx 2.24 A Jan Štefela o xxo o xxx 2.24 11 B Oleh Doroshchuk o o xo xxx 2.24 12 B Tihomir Ivanov o xo xo xxx 2.24 13 B Brandon Starc xxo xo xo xxx 2.24 14 A Luis Zayas o o xxo xxx 2.24 15 A Luis Castro o o xxx 2.20 B Fernando Ferreira o o xxx 2.20 B Erick Portillo o o xxx 2.20 A Edgar Rivera o o xxx 2.20 19 B Thomas Carmoy o xo xxx 2.20 B JuVaughn Harrison o xo xxx 2.20 A Wang Zhen o xo xxx 2.20 22 A Alperen Acet xxo xo xxx 2.20 23 B Yual Reath o xxo xxx 2.20 B Tomohiro Shinno o xxo xxx 2.20 25 B Sarvesh Kushare o xxx 2.15 A Vladyslav Lavskyy o xxx 2.15 27 B Joel Baden xo xxx 2.15 28 A Vernon Turner xxo xxx 2.15 A Donald Thomas xxx B Tobias Potye xxx B Andriy Protsenko xxx
Final The final was held on 10 August, starting at 19:10 (UTC+2) in the evening. Rank Athlete Nation Main competition Jump-off Height Notes 2.17 2.22 2.27 2.31 2.34 2.36 2.38 2.38 2.36 2.34 Hamish Kerr o o o xxo o o xxx x x o 2.36 = Shelby McEwen o o o o xxo o xxx x x x 2.36 Mutaz Barsham – o o o o xx- x 2.34 4 Stefano Sottile o o o xo o xxx 2.34 5 Ryoichi Akamatsu o o xo o xxx 2.31 6 Oleh Doroshchuk o o xo xo xxx 2.31 7 Woo Sang-hyeok o o xo xxx 2.27 8 Tihomir Ivanov xo o xo xxx 2.27 9 Jan Štefela xxo o xxx 2.22 10 Romaine Beckford o xo xxx 2.22 11 Gianmarco Tamberi – xxo xxx 2.22 12 Brian Raats o xxx 2.17
References