1948 Summer Olympics / Athletics - High Jump (Men)

sport	athletics
discipline	high jump
gender	Men
Attendees	27 athletes from 16 countries
Competition location	Wembley Stadium
Competition phase	July 30, 1948
Medalist John Winter ( AUS )   Bjørn Paulson ( NOR )   George Stanich ( USA )

The men's high jump at the 1948 Olympic Games in London was held on July 30, 1948 at Wembley Stadium . 27 athletes took part. For the first time at the Olympic Games, the number of unsuccessful attempts at the same level decided the placement.

The Olympic champion was the Australian John Winter . He won ahead of the Norwegian Bjørn Paulson and the American George Stanich .

Existing records

• World record : 2.11 m - Lester Steers ( USA ), Los Angeles , June 17, 1942
• Olympic record : 2.03 m - Cornelius Johnson ( USA ), Olympic final in Berlin , August 2, 1936

Conducting the competition

Participants competed in a qualifying round on July 30th. The required height of qualification was 1.87 meters. All jumpers who made this height qualified for the final on the same day.

Note: The qualified athletes are highlighted in light blue.

qualification

space	Surname	nation	height	annotation
1	Adegboyega Folaranmi Adedoyin	Great Britain	1.87 m
1	Hércules Azcune	Uruguay	1.87 m
1	Georges Mitio	France	1.87 m
1	Dwight Eddleman	United States	1.87 m
1	Bjørn Gundersen	Norway	1.87 m
1	Kuuno honors	Finland	1.87 m
1	Arthur Jackes	Canada	1.87 m
1	Alfredo Jadresic	Chile	1.87 m
1	Pierre Lacaze	France	1.87 m
1	Birger Leirud	Norway	1.87 m
1	Vern McGrew	United States	1.87 m
1	Nils Nicklén	Finland	1.87 m
1	Alan Paterson	Great Britain	1.87 m
1	Bjorn Paulson	Norway	1.87 m
1	Gurnam Singh	India	1.87 m
1	George Stanich	United States	1.87 m
1	Hans Wahli	Switzerland	1.87 m
1	Göran Widenfelt	Sweden	1.87 m
1	Lloyd Valberg	Singapore	1.87 m
1	John Winter	Australia	1.87 m
21st	Arne Åhman	Sweden	1.84 m
21st	Claude Bénard	France	1.84 m
21st	Benjamin Casado	Puerto Rico	1.84 m
21st	Ioannis Lambrou	Greece	1.84 m
21st	Pedro Listur	Uruguay	1.84 m
21st	Arnulf Pilhatsch	Austria	1.84 m
27	Ron Pavitt	Great Britain	1.80 m

July 30, 1948, 11 a.m.

With Lloyd Valberg, an athlete from Singapore took part in the Olympic Games for the first time. Benjamin Casado was the
first athlete from Puerto Rico to take part in the Olympic Games.
The initial height was 1.60 m. Further attempts went over 1.70 m, 1.80 m, 1.84 m and 1.87 m. The order as well as the test series are unknown.

final

Note: From rank 9 onwards, the test series are no longer known. Only the best distance is determined.

space	Surname	nation	result	1.87 m	1.90 m	1.95 m	1.98 m
1	John Winter	Australia	1.98 m	O	O	xo	O
2	Bjorn Paulson	Norway	1.95 m	O	O	O	xxx
3	George Stanich	United States	1.95 m	O	O	xxo	xxx
4th	Dwight Eddleman	United States	1.95 m	O	xo	xxo	xxx
5	Georges Mitio	France	1.95 m	O	xxo	xxo	xxx
6th	Arthur Jackes	Canada	1.90 m	O	O
7th	Alan Paterson	Great Britain	1.90 m	xo	xo
	Hans Wahli	Switzerland	1.90 m	xo	xo
9	Alfredo Jadresic	Chile	1.90 m		xxo
	Pierre Lacaze	France	1.90 m		xxo
	Göran Widenfelt	Sweden	1.90 m		xxo
12	Adegboyega Folaranmi Adedoyin	Great Britain	1.90 m		xxo
13	Birger Leirud	Norway	1.90 m		xxo
14th	Hércules Azcune	Uruguay	1.87 m
	Lloyd Valberg	Singapore	1.87 m
16	Vern McGrew	United States	1.87 m
17th	Kuuno honors	Finland	1.87 m
18th	Gurnam Singh	India	1.87 m
ogV	Bjørn Gundersen	Norway
	Nils Nicklén	Finland

July 30, 1948, 4:30 p.m.

20 athletes who had mastered the required level of qualification moved into the final of the first athletics decision for men. The rule of multiple attempts was applied for the first time at the Olympic Games, so that the previously usual jump-offs at the same height were omitted.
The Americans were the clear favorites for this competition, but only George Stanich made it into the medal ranks. The US coach Dean Cromwell blamed the poor system for the poor performance of his athletes. All jumpers with an approach from the side are disadvantaged because of the very slippery ground there. The Australian John Winter, who started from the beginning, had another extraordinary handicap. Because of a back injury, the doctors advised against taking part at all. Winter started anyway, was the only one to jump 1.98 m and won the gold medal. The Norwegian Bjørn Paulson surprised all professionals with his silver medal.
Winter was the last Olympic champion to jump to the gold medal in the shear jump.

Winter and Paulson each won the first high jump medals for their countries.

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 2: 1948–1968, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 1st edition 1969, p. 31f

Web links

• SportsReference high jump
• Official Report, page 266

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 page 554 ( Memento from June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
2. ^ Official report "Athletic Timetable" p. 240, engl. (PDF)
3. ^ Official report "Athletic Timetable" p. 241, engl. (PDF)
4. ^ Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 2: 1948–1968, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 1st edition 1969, p. 31f
5. ↑ SportsReference (Eng.)