1968 Summer Olympics / Athletics - High Jump (Men)

sport	athletics
discipline	high jump
gender	Men
Attendees	39 athletes from 26 countries
Competition location	Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Competition phase	October 19, 1968 (qualification) October 20, 1968 (final)
Medalist Dick Fosbury ( USA )   Ed Caruthers ( USA )   Valentin Gavrilow ( URS )

The men's high jump at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City was held on October 19 and 20, 1968 in the Estadio Olímpico Universitario . 39 athletes took part.

The American Dick Fosbury became Olympic champion . Silver won his compatriot Ed Caruthers , bronze went to Valentin Gawrilow from the Soviet Union.

The high jump competition became known through the new jumping technique of the winner. Dick Fosbury won the gold medal with the Fosbury flop named after him .

For the Federal Republic of Germany - officially Germany - Gunther Spielvogel , Ingomar Sieghart and Thomas Zacharias started . While Zacharias failed at the qualification level, Spielvogel and Sieghart qualified for the final. Spielvogel was seventh, Sieghart ninth.
Michel Portmann and Thomas Wieser represented Switzerland. Both failed in qualification.
High jumpers from the GDR - officially East Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein did not take part.

Existing records

World record	2.28 m	Valery Brumel ( Soviet Union )	Moscow , Soviet Union (now Russia )	July 21, 1963
Olympic record	2.18 m	Valery Brumel ( Soviet Union )	Tokyo finals , Japan	October 21, 1964
		John Thomas ( USA )

Conducting the competition

The jumpers competed in two groups for a qualifying round on October 19. The qualification height for the direct entry into the final on October 20 was 2.14 m. Since fewer than twelve athletes jumped this height, the final field was filled up to twelve participants according to the next best heights.

Time schedule

October 19, 10 a.m .: Qualification
October 20, 2.30 p.m .: Final

Note: All times are Mexico City local time ( UTC −6)

The directly qualified athletes are highlighted in light blue, the following athletes in light green.

qualification

Date: October 19, 1968, from 10 a.m.

Group A

space	Surname	nation	1.80 m	1.85 m	1.90 m	1.95 m	2.00 m	2.03 m	2.06 m	2.09 m	2.12 m	2.14 m	height	annotation
1	Dick Fosbury	United States	-	-	-	-	-	O	-	O	-	O	2.14
2	Ed Caruthers	United States	-	-	-	-	-	O	O	-	O	O	2.14
3	Valery Skvortsov	Soviet Union	-	-	-	-	O	-	O	O	xo	O	2.14
4th	Lawrie Peckham	Australia	-	-	-	O	O	-	O	O	O	x o	2.14
5	Miodrag Todosijević	Yugoslavia	-	-	-	-	O	-	O	O	O	xxx	2.12
6th	Reynaldo Brown	United States	-	-	-	-	-	-	xo	-	O	xxx	2.12
7th	Valentin Gavrilov	Soviet Union	-	-	-	-	O	xo	O	O	O	xxx	2.12
8th	Robert Sainte-Rose	France	-	-	-	-	O	-	O	O	x o	xxx	2.12
9	Gunther Spielvogel	BR Germany	-	-	-	-	O	O	O	O	x o	xxx	2.12
10	Thomas Zacharias	BR Germany	-	-	-	-	-	-	O	O	xxx		2.09
11	Viktor Bolshov	Soviet Union	-	-	-	-	O	-	xo	x o	xxx		2.09
12	Jaroslav Alexa	Czechoslovakia	-	-	-	-	O	-	O	xx o	xxx		2.09
	Henry Elliott	France
14th	Rudolf Huebner	Czechoslovakia	-	-	-	-	O	O	O	xxx			2.06
	Kenneth Lundmark	Sweden
	Tony Sneazwell	Australia	-	-	-	O	O	-	O	xxx			2.06
17th	Peter Boyce	Australia	-	-	-	O	xo	-	x o	xxx			2.06
18th	Polde Milek	Yugoslavia	-	-	-	-	O	-	xxx				2.00

Group B

space	Surname	nation	1.80 m	1.85 m	1.90 m	1.95 m	2.00 m	2.03 m	2.06 m	2.09 m	2.12 m	2.14 m	height	annotation
1	Ahmed Senoussi	Chad	-	-	-	-	-	-	O	O	O	x o	2.14
2	Giacomo Crosa	Italy	-	-	-	-	O	-	O	O	O	x o	2.14
3	Ingomar Sieghart	BR Germany	-	-	-	-	O	O	O	O	O	xxx	2.12
4th	Luis María Garriga	Spain	-	-	-	xo	-	O	xo	O	O	xxx	2.12
5	Kuniyoshi Sugioka	Japan	-	-	-	O	O	-	O	O	xxx		2.09
6th	Bhim Singh	India	-	-	-	O	O	xo	O	x o	xxx		2.09
7th	Ioannis Kousoulas	Greece	-	-	-	-	O	xo	O	xx o	xxx		2.09
8th	Mohamet Idriss	Chad	-	-	-	-	-	-	O	-	xxx		2.06
9	Teodoro Palacios	Guatemala	-	-	-	O	-	O	O	xxx			2.06
10	Jón Ólafsson	Iceland	-	-	-	O	xo	xxo	x o	xxx			2.06
11	Michel Portmann	Switzerland	-	-	-	-	O	-	xx o	xxx			2.06
12	Fernando Abugattas	Peru	-	-	-	-	xo	O	xxx				2.03
13	Fernand Tovondray	Madagascar	-	-	-	O	xxo	O	xxx				2.03
14th	Thomas Wieser	Switzerland	-	-	-	O	O	x o	xxx				2.03
15th	Csaba Dosa	Romania	-	O	O	O	xxo	xx o	xxx				2.03
16	Wilf Wedmann	Canada	-	-	-	-	O	-	xxx				2.00
17th	Roberto Abugattas	Peru	-	-	-	-	x o	-	xxx				2.00
18th	Anthony Balfour	Bahamas	-	O	O	O	xxx						1.95
19th	Hong Son-long	Taiwan	O	O	xxo	O	xxx						1.95
20th	Nurullah Candan	Turkey	xxo	O	xxo	O	xxx						1.95
21st	Marconi Turay	Sierra Leone	O	O	xx o	xxx							1.90

Ed Caruthers from the USA, silver medal winner

final

Date: October 20, 1968, from 10 a.m.

The American Fosbury was not considered a favorite. Although he was able to win the US championship in 1968, he was behind his compatriots Ed Caruthers and Reynaldo Brown in the Olympic eliminations. But, of course, Fosbury's jumping style attracted a lot of attention. Jumping backwards over the bar with a quick run - that had never happened before at a major event and so all eyes were on Dick Fosbury and his "flop".
The final was marked by a number of failed attempts and again there was a duel between the USA and the USSR, this time with a different outcome than at the last two Olympic Games. Caruthers had difficulties at 2.14 m and 2.18 m, Skworzow at 2.12 m and 2.16 m. But the level of performance was significantly higher than four years ago in Tokyo , where 2.18 m was enough to win the Olympics. Three jumpers, Fosbury, Caruthers and Gawrilow, each managed 2.20 m in the first attempt. Brown was now eliminated at 2.18 m and was still fifth behind Skworzow. Gawrilow failed at 2.22 m, Fosbury took the height in the first, Caruthers in the second attempt. The 2.24 m was then too high for Caruthers, Fosbury crossed the bar on the third attempt, that was a new Olympic record . However, the new Olympic champion also failed at the new world record height of 2.29 m.

space	Surname	nation	2.00 m	2.03 m	2.06 m	2.09 m	2.12 m	2.14 m	2.16 m	2.18 m	2.20 m	2.22 m	2.24 m	2.29 m	Bottom line	annotation
1	Dick Fosbury	United States	-	O	-	O	-	O	-	O	O	O	xx o	xxx	2.24	OR
2	Ed Caruthers	United States	-	-	-	O	-	xxo	-	xxo	O	x o	xxx		2.22
3	Valentin Gavrilov	Soviet Union	O	O	O	O	O	O	O	-	O	xxx			2.20
4th	Valery Skvortsov	Soviet Union	-	O	xo	O	xxo	O	xx o	xxx					2.16
5	Reynaldo Brown	United States	-	O	-	O	-	O	-	xxx					2.14
6th	Giacomo Crosa	Italy	O	-	xo	O	O	O	xxx						2.14
7th	Gunther Spielvogel	BR Germany	-	-	O	O	xxo	x o	xxx						2.14
8th	Lawrie Peckham	Australia	-	O	O	O	x o	xxx							2.12
9	Robert Sainte-Rose	France	O	-	O	O	xxx								2.09
	Ingomar Sieghart	BR Germany	-	O	O	O	xxx
11	Luis María Garriga	Spain	O	-	xo	O	xxx								2.09
12	Ahmed Senoussi	Chad	-	-	xo	xx o	xxx								2.09
13	Miodrag Todosijević	Yugoslavia	O	-	O	xxx									2.06

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 2: 1948–1968, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 1st edition 1969, pp. 356–358

Video

• Mexico 1968 high jump final (Fosbury 2.24m Ed charuters 2.22m) .wmv , published August 1, 2011 on youtube.com, accessed November 8, 2017

Web links

• SportsReference high jump , accessed November 8, 2017
• Official report - summary p. 86f, English / French. (PDF), accessed on November 8, 2017
• Official report of the Olympic Games 1968 p. 526, English / French. (PDF), accessed on November 8, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Berlin 2009 Page 554 (Engl.) ( Memento of 29 June 2011 at the Internet Archive ) retrieved on November 8, 2017
2. ↑ Official report of the 1968 Olympic Games ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 11, English / French (PDF), accessed on November 8, 2017 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Official Report of the 1968 Olympic Games ( Memento of the original from September 17, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. P. 526, engl./frz. (PDF), accessed on November 8, 2017 
4. ↑ SportsReference , accessed November 8, 2017