Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's high jump

The men's high jump at the 1976 Summer Olympics took place on July 30 & 31.[1] Thirty-seven athletes from 23 nations competed.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Jacek Wszoła of Poland, breaking the US/USSR hold on the men's high jump title (no nation other than those two had won since 1948). It was Poland's first medal in the event. Greg Joy's silver was Canada's first medal in the event since 1932. Dwight Stones won his second consecutive bronze medal, becoming the third man to win multiple medals in the high jump and keeping the United States' streak of podium appearances (all 18 editions of the Olympic men's high jump) alive one final time. The Soviet streak of five Games with podium appearances in the event ended.

Men's high jump
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
1996 Armenian stamp commemorating 1976 high jump, depicting Jacek Wszoła
VenueOlympic Stadium
DatesJuly 30 & 31
Competitors37 from 23 nations
Winning height2.25 OR
Medalists
Jacek Wszoła
 Poland
Greg Joy
 Canada
Dwight Stones
 United States

Background

This was the 18th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1972 Games were bronze medalist Dwight Stones of the United States and sixth-place finisher István Major of Hungary; the defending champion, Soviet Jüri Tarmak, had retired. Stones was now the best jumper in the world, having broken the world record twice since the last Games. Jesper Tørring of Denmark, the 1974 European champion, was also competing.[2]

Bermuda, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Saudi Arabia each made their debut in the event. The United States appeared for the 18th time, having competed at each edition of the Olympic men's high jump to that point.

Competition format

The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1912. There were two distinct rounds of jumping with results cleared between rounds. Jumpers were eliminated if they had three consecutive failures, whether at a single height or between multiple heights if they attempted to advance before clearing a height.

The qualifying round had the bar set at 2.00 metres, 2.05 metres, 2.10 metres, 2.13 metres, and 2.16 metres. All jumpers clearing 2.16 metres in the qualifying round advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 jumpers could achieve it, the top 12 (including ties) would advance to the final.

The final had jumps at 2.00 metres, 2.05 metres, 2.10 metres, 2.14 metres, 2.18 metres, 2.21 metres, and every 0.02 metres after that until there was a winner.[2][3]

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record Dwight Stones (USA)2.31Philadelphia, United States5 June 1976
Olympic record Dick Fosbury (USA)2.24Mexico City, Mexico20 October 1968

Jacek Wszoła beat the Olympic record by jumping 2.25 metres.

Schedule

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date Time Round
Friday, 30 July 197610:00Qualifying
Saturday, 31 July 197616:30Final

Results

Key

  • o = Height cleared
  • x = Height failed
  • = Height passed
  • r  = Retired
  • SB = Season's best
  • PB = Personal best
  • NR = National record
  • AR = Area record
  • OR = Olympic record
  • WR = World record
  • WL = World lead
  • NM = No mark
  • DNS = Did not start
  • DQ = Disqualified

Qualifying

The qualification was set to 2.16 metres. A total of 14 athletes achieved this height.

RankGroupAthleteNation2.002.052.102.132.16HeightNote
1AJacek Wszoła Polandooo2.16Q
AJim Barrineau United Statesooo2.16Q
3ASerhiy Senyukov Soviet Unionoooo2.16Q
BBill Jankunis United Statesoooo2.16Q
5ARolf Beilschmidt East Germanyooooo2.16Q
ASergey Budalov Soviet Unionooooo2.16Q
7BLeif Roar Falkum Norwayooxoo2.16Q
8BTerje Totland Denmarkoooxoo2.16Q
9AGreg Joy Canadaoxoxoo2.16Q
10ADwight Stones United Statesoooxo2.16Q
11AClaude Ferragne Canadaxoxoooxo2.16Q
12BJesper Torring Denmarkooxoxxo2.16Q
13ARodolfo Bergamo Italyoooxoxxo2.16Q
14ARune Almén Swedenooxoxxoxxo2.16Q
15AEndre Kelemen Hungaryxooxxx2.13
16AGuy Moreau Belgiumoxooxxx2.13
17AWalter Boller West Germanyoxoooxxx2.13
BKatsumi Fukura Japanooxoox2.13
19BKazunori Koshikawa Japanoooxoxxx2.13
20AHenry Lauterbach East Germanyoooxxoxxx2.13
21ADanial Temim Yugoslaviaoooxxx2.10
22ATeymour Ghiasi IranoxooxxxN/A2.10
23AWolfgang Killing West GermanyoxxxN/A2.05
24BIstván Major HungaryooxxxN/A2.05
BJuan Carrasco SpainooxxxN/A2.05
BOscar Raise ItalyooxxxN/A2.05
BPaul Poaniéwa FranceooxxxN/A2.05
28BFrancisco Martín SpainxoxxxN/A2.05
29BJacques Aletti FrancexoxoxxxN/A2.05
BMarc Romersa LuxembourgxoxoxxxN/A2.05
BRichard Spencer CubaxoxoxxxN/A2.05
32ARiccardo Fortini ItalyoxxoxxxN/A2.05
ARobert Forget CanadaoxxoxxxN/A2.05
BClark Godwin BermudaoxxoxxxN/A2.05
BCarlos Alberto Abaunza NicaraguaxxxN/ANo mark
BIrajá Cecy BrazilxxxN/ANo mark
BGhazi Saleh Saudi ArabiaxxxN/ANo mark
ABruno Brokken BelgiumDNS

Final

The rainy weather affected Stones more than anyone else. Two months before the Olympics, he cleared 2.31 metres; five days after the Olympic final, he cleared 2.32 metres. But in the Montreal rain, he failed three times at 2.23 metres. Home crowd hero Joy cleared that height on his final attempt, ultimately gaining silver for it. Budalov tried once unsuccessfully at 2.23 metres before moving on to try 2.25 metres (a very uncommon strategy at that point), failing twice there and settling for fourth place at 2.21 metres. Wszoła, who had not been expected to be a contender, cleared 2.23 metres in his first try. He and Joy each made one jump at 2.25 metres before taking divergent approaches: Wszoła kept at 2.25 metres, passing it on jump #2; Joy went on to 2.27 metres. Each man took two unsuccessful jumps at 2.27, eliminating Joy in second place and leaving Wszoła alone as gold medalist. He used his final attempt at 2.29, with no success.

RankAthleteNation2.002.052.102.142.182.212.232.252.272.29HeightNotes
Jacek Wszoła Polandooooxoxx–x2.25OR
Greg Joy Canadaoooxoxxooxxox–xxN/A2.23
Dwight Stones United StatesooooxxxN/A2.21
4Sergey Budalov Soviet Unionooooxox–xxN/A2.21
5Serhiy Senyukov Soviet UnionoooxxxN/A2.18
6Rodolfo Bergamo ItalyoooxooxxxN/A2.18
7Rolf Beilschmidt East GermanyoooxoxxxN/A2.18
8Jesper Torring DenmarkoxoxoxxxN/A2.18
9Terje Totland DenmarkooxooxoxxxN/A2.18
10Rune Almén SwedenoxoxooxxoxxxN/A2.18
11Jim Barrineau United StatesooxxxN/A2.14
12Claude Ferragne CanadaoooxxxN/A2.14
13Bill Jankunis United StatesoxxxN/A2.10
14Leif Roar Falkum NorwayxoxxxN/A2.10

References

  1. "Athletics at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games: Men's High Jump". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  2. "High Jump, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  3. Official Report, vol. 3, p. 69.
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