Men's high jump world record progression


The first world record in the men's high jump was recognised by the International Association of Athletics Federations 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. Using the metric system a new record must be 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 in 1978—all record-setters since then have used the Flop technique.

Progression



ImageSize = width:200 height:1300
PlotArea = width:35 height:1260 left:50 bottom:40
Legend = columns:2 left:15 top:25 columnwidth:50
AlignBars = early
DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1910 till:2018
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:1910
Colors=
id:Basis value:blue legend:World_record_men's_high_jump
PlotData=
bar:Leaders width:25 mark: align:left fontsize:S shift:

from:1910 till:end color:Basis
at:1912 text:George Horine_2.00_m
at:1914 text:Edward Beeson_2.022_m
at:1924 text:Harold Osborn_2.038_m
at:1933 text:Walter Marty_2.04_m
at:1934 text:Walter Marty_2.06_m
at:1936 text:Cornelius Johnson_2.07_m
at:1936 shift: text:Dave Albritton_2.07_m
at:1937 shift: text:Mel Walker_2.09_m
at:1941 text:Lester Steers_2.11_m
at:1953 text:Walt Davis_2.12_m
at:1956 text:Charles Dumas_2.15_m
at:1957 text:Yuriy Stepanov_2.16_m
at:1960 shift: text:John Thomas_2.17_m
at:1960 shift: text:John Thomas_2.18_m
at:1960 text:John Thomas_2.22_m
at:1961 text:Valeriy Brumel_2.23_m
at:1961 shift: text:Valeriy Brumel_2.24_m
at:1961 shift: text:Valeriy Brumel_2.25_m
at:1962 shift: text:Valeriy Brumel_2.26_m
at:1962 shift: text:Valeriy Brumel_2.27_m
at:1963 shift: text:Valeriy Brumel_2.28_m
at:1971 text:Pat Matzdorf_2.29_m
at:1973 text:Dwight Stones_2.30_m
at:1976 shift: text:Dwight Stones_2.31_m
at:1976 shift: text:Dwight Stones_2.32_m
at:1978 shift: text:Franklin Jacobs_2.32_m
at:1977 text:Vladimir Yashchenko_2.33_m
at:1978 shift: text:Vladimir Yashchenko_2.34_m
at:1980 shift: text:Jacek Wszola_2.35_m
at:1980 text:Dietmar Mögenburg_2.35_m
at:1980 shift: text:Gert Wessig_2.36_m
at:1983 shift: text:Zhu Jianhua_2.37_m
at:1983 shift: text:Zhu Jianhua_2.38_m
at:1984 text:Zhu Jianhua_2.39_m
at:1985 text:Rudolf Povarnitsyn_2.40_m
at:1985 shift: text:Igor Paklin_2.41_m
at:1988 text:Patrik Sjöberg_2.42_m
at:1988 shift: text:Javier Sotomayor_2.43_m
at:1989 shift: text:Javier Sotomayor_2.44_m
at:1993 text:Javier Sotomayor_2.45_m


HeightAthleteVenueDate
Palo Alto, California18 May 1912
Berkeley, California2 May 1914Edward Beeson of San Francisco Clears the Bar at 6 Feet 7 5/8 Inches.">
Urbana, Illinois27 May 1924
Fresno, California13 May 1933
Palo Alto, California28 April 1934
New York12 July 1936
New York12 July 1936
Malmö, Sweden12 August 1937
Los Angeles17 June 1941
Dayton, Ohio27 June 1953
Los Angeles29 June 1956
Leningrad, Soviet Union13 July 1957
Philadelphia30 April 1960
Cambridge, Massachusetts21 May 1960
Bakersfield, California24 June 1960
Palo Alto, California1 July 1960
Moscow18 June 1961
Moscow16 July 1961
Sofia, Bulgaria31 August 1961
Palo Alto, California22 July 1962
Moscow29 September 1962
Moscow21 July 1963
Berkeley, California3 July 1971
Munich11 July 1973
Philadelphia5 June 1976
Philadelphia4 August 1976
Richmond, Virginia2 June 1977
Tbilisi, Soviet Union16 June 1978
Eberstadt, West Germany25 May 1980
Rehlingen, West Germany26 May 1980
Moscow1 August 1980
Beijing11 June 1983
Shanghai22 September 1983
Eberstadt, West Germany10 June 1984
Donetsk, Soviet Union11 August 1985
Kobe, Japan4 September 1985
Stockholm, Sweden30 June 1987
Salamanca, Spain8 September 1988
San Juan, Puerto Rico29 July 1989
Salamanca, Spain27 July 1993