Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's high jump


The women's high jump event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between August 18–20, at the Olympic Stadium.

Summary

There were 17 athletes who made the final. The height of 1.93 proved to be the undoing for five of them, even though all of them had cleared 1.94 in qualifying the day earlier. Among the non-qualifiers were World indoor Champion Vashti Cunningham and European silver medalist Airinė Palšytė. Eight more were excised at 1.97 m, leaving the medalists plus one extra. Waving her fingers at the bar before she jumped, 37 year old Ruth Beitia remained perfect to that point. Mirela Demireva was jumping over her previous best but made it on her first attempt as well. She was in second place with one miss earlier in the competition. Blanka Vlašić had one miss at every height, a pattern that put her in third place. And making the bar on her last attempt, world leader Chaunté Lowe was in fourth place. All but Demireva had cleared 2.00 before, Lowe in 2016. Earlier in her career Vlašić made 2.00 routine and was attempting the world record of 2.10 on occasion. None of them could make 2.00 in the final and their earlier positions were confirmed. It was Beitia's first gold medal in World level competition. This was also the first Olympic women's high jump since 1980 where the winning height was below two metres.

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds, qualification and final. Athletes started with a qualifying round. Jumping in turn, each athlete attempts to achieve the qualifying height. If they had failed at three jumps in a row, they would have been eliminated. After a successful jump, they received three more attempts to achieve the next height. Once all jumps had been completed, all athletes who had achieved the qualifying height went through to the final. If fewer than 12 athletes had achieved the qualifying standard, the best 12 athletes would have gone through. Cleared heights reset for the final, which followed the same format until all athletes fail three consecutive jumps.

Records

, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
World record2.09 mRome, Italy30 August 1987
Olympic record2.06 mAthens, Greece28 August 2004
2016 World leading2.01Eugene, Oregon, United States3 July 2016

Schedule

All times are Brasilia Time
DateTimeRound
Thursday, 18 August 201610:00Qualifications
Saturday, 20 August 201620:30Finals

Results

Qualification

Qualification rule: qualification standard 1.94m or at least best 12 qualified.
RankGroupNameNationality1.801.851.891.921.94ResultNote
1BRuth Beitia–oooo1.94
1AChaunte Loweooooo1.94
1BInika McPherson–o–oo1.94,
1BSvetlana Radzivilooooo1.94
1ALevern Spencerooooo1.94
1BBlanka Vlašić–oooo1.94
7BSofie Skoogooxooo1.94,
7BAlessia Trostooxooo1.94
9AMirela Demirevaoooxxoo1.94
9BKamila Lićwinko–oxoxoo1.94
11BAirinė Palšytėoooxoxo1.94
12BMarie-Laurence Jungfleischoooxxoxo1.94
13AIryna Gerashchenkoooooxxo1.94,
14BAlyxandria Treasureoooxoxxo1.94,
15AVashti Cunningham–oxoxoxxo1.94
15AMorgan Lakeoooxxoxxo1.94,
15ADesirée Rossitooxxooxxo1.94
18AMichaela Hrubaooooxxx1.92
19AYuliya Levchenkoooxooxxx1.92
20ANadiya Dusanovaooxoxoxxx1.92
21BMaruša Černjuloooxxoxxx1.92
22BOksana Okunevaoooxxx1.89
22AEleanor Patterson–ooxxx1.89
22AAna Simic–ooxxx1.89
25BJeanelle Scheperxoooxxx1.89
26BLinda Sandblomoxoxoxxx1.89
27ADoreen Amataoxxoxoxxx1.89
28APriscilla Frederickoxxoxxoxxx1.89
29AErika Kinseyooxxx1.85
29BLissa Labicheooxxx1.85
31AAkela Jonesoxoxxx1.85
32BTonje Angelsenxoxxx1.80
32ALeontia Kallenouxoxxx1.80
32AValentina Liashenkoxoxxx1.80
32BBarbara Szabóxoxxx1.80
BNafissatou Thiam

Final