The first world record in the men's high jump was recognized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1912.
As of June 2009, the IAAF has ratified 40 world records in the event.
Fourteen of the 16 records from 1912 to 1960 were set in the United States and were originally measured in feet and inches; they were converted to metric before being ratified as world records. As of January 1, 1963, records were accepted as metric marks, with marks measured in feet and inches to the nearest quarter-inch and rounded down to the nearest centimetre. When measurements were taken in feet and inches the bar could be raised, for record-attempt purposes, in increments of one-quarter inch. Under the metric system, a new record must be (at least) one centimeter higher. In 1973, American Dwight Stones was the first Fosbury Flop jumper to set a world record. The namesake of the technique, Dick Fosbury impressed the world by winning the 1968 Olympics with the flop, but never held the world record. The last Straddle style jumper to hold the World Record was Vladimir Yashchenko (Soviet Union/Ukraine) in 1978; all record-setters since then have used the Flop technique.
The world record of by Cuban Javier Sotomayor in 1993 has never been surpassed.
Progression
Ratified Ratified but later rescinded
Pre-IAAF
MarkAthleteVenueDate Innerleithen Innerleithen Mount Benger Dalkeith Newcastle Woolwich Cambridge Oxford Harrow Liverpool Liverpool Durham Liverpool Cambridge London London London London London London London Dublin London London Oxford London Carrick Stourbridge Philadelphia Haytor Camp New York City Tipperary New York City Bayonne New York City Palo Alto United States April/May 1912
Post-IAAF
MarkAthleteVenueDate Palo Alto, California 18 May 1912 Berkeley, California 2 May 1914 Urbana, Illinois 27 May 1924 Fresno, California 13 May 1933 Palo Alto, California 28 April 1934 New York 12 July 1936 New York 12 July 1936 Malmö, Sweden 12 August 1937 Los Angeles 17 June 1941 Dayton, Ohio 27 June 1953 Los Angeles 29 June 1956 Leningrad, Soviet Union 13 July 1957 Philadelphia 30 April 1960 Cambridge, Massachusetts 21 May 1960 Bakersfield, California 24 June 1960 Palo Alto, California 1 July 1960 Moscow 18 June 1961 Moscow 16 July 1961 Sofia, Bulgaria 31 August 1961 Palo Alto, California 22 July 1962 Moscow 29 September 1962 Moscow 21 July 1963 Berkeley, California 3 July 1971 Munich 11 July 1973 Philadelphia 5 June 1976 Philadelphia 4 August 1976 Richmond, Virginia 2 June 1977 Tbilisi, Soviet Union 16 June 1978 Eberstadt, West Germany 25 May 1980 Rehlingen, West Germany 26 May 1980 Moscow, Soviet Union 1 August 1980 Beijing, China 11 June 1983 Shanghai, China 22 September 1983 Eberstadt, West Germany 10 June 1984 Donetsk, Soviet Union 11 August 1985 Kobe, Japan 4 September 1985 Stockholm, Sweden 30 June 1987 West Berlin 26 February 1988 Salamanca, Spain 8 September 1988 San Juan, Puerto Rico 29 July 1989 Salamanca, Spain 27 July 1993
See also Women's high jump world record progression Men's high jump Italian record progression
Notes
References
High jump world record progression International Olympic Committee