High jump rules and techniques: From competition format to the legendary Fosbury Flop

High jump was one of the nine original sports which featured at Athens 1896 – the first-ever Olympics of the modern era.

Since then, high jump has been a regular feature in the Summer Games programme. It is also one of the first athletics events in which women were allowed to compete, starting from the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam.

Along with its cousin pole vault, high jump is one of the two vertical jump events which are competed at the Summer Games. Long jump, meanwhile, is a horizontal jump event.

How to do high jump

As the name suggests, high jump requires athletes to jump the highest possible distance vertically without dislodging a horizontal bar placed at a certain height. Unlike pole vault though, athletes must do it unaided, requiring high levels of speed, explosive power and agility on their part to succeed.

One crucial thing to keep in mind is that athletes can use only one foot during takeoff. In simpler terms, the jumper can only have one foot planted on the ground while initiating the jump.

The field for a high jump contest consists of three parts.

The first is the runway or the take off area. It is generally a minimum of 15m in length and 16m in width.

The second is the upright, which comprises two vertical bars supporting a horizontal crossbar measuring 4m. The crossbar is height adjustable and is not fixed to the vertical frames. It is placed very delicately and can be dislodged by the slightest of touches.

The third, meanwhile, is the crash mat placed behind the upright to cushion the jumper’s fall. It is mostly a safety measure to prevent any sort of injuries.

A high jump starts with an athlete using the runway to make an approach to the upright. As long as they stay within the limits of the runway, the jumper is allowed to make their approach any way they see fit. They can run straight or take an angled approach or run fast or slow towards the upright.

Once a jumper is near the upright, they airlift vertically using one foot during the take off. The objective is to clear the crossbar placed at a certain height from the ground and land on the crash mat. If the athlete manages to land on the crash mat without dislodging the crossbar, the jump is considered legal.

If any part of the jumper’s body touches the crossbar during a jump, it is still considered a legitimate jump as long as the crossbar isn’t dislodged. However, if the crossbar gets dislodged from the vertical frames or the athlete touches the vertical frames during a jump, the effort is considered as a failed jump.

Also, a high jumper’s shoe needs to meet certain specifications. They can have soles with a maximum thickness of 13mm and heels with a maximum thickness of 19mm.

High jump rules

In a competition, a high jump event starts with a chief judge setting a particular height to place the crossbar. The height generally increases gradually to make it tougher for athletes.

The competing athletes have three attempts each to clear a particular height in order to advance to the next (higher) mark. Competitors, however, do have the option to pass any one height and try for the next mark.

A competitor is eliminated after three successive failed attempts to clear one or a combination of heights. So, as the height increases, the field of a high jump event gradually starts decreasing.

Do note, that if an athlete passes a height it doesn’t interrupt in the succession of passed or failed attempts. For example, if a competitor records two successive failed attempts in a particular height and then decides to pass and try for the next mark, they need to clear the new increased height in their first attempt to avoid elimination.

The last remaining jumper wins the event.

If two or more jumpers tie for the top spot (all remaining athletes fail to clear a particular height), the factors which act as the tie-breaker between them are as follows in order of priority:

1. The fewest failed attempts at the height at which the tie occurred
2. The fewest failed attempts throughout the competition

If there’s still no clear winner, a jump off takes place to determine the winner, where jumpers get one opportunity to clear the next height mark. The crossbar is then alternately lowered and raised until only one jumper succeeds.

In 2009, though, a new rule was introduced where the jump off was made optional, which meant that athletes could share the top spot if it was mutually agreed upon.

The rule memorably came into effect at the Tokyo 2020 men’s high jump event, where Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi opted to share the gold medal.

High jump techniques

Barring the one-footed take off, there are no rules to limit high jump techniques.

Hence, in the early days, athletes used a variety of techniques, including popular ones like the Eastern Cut-off, Western Roll and Straddle, to execute their jumps.

Things, however, took a dramatic turn after the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games after USA’s Dick Fosbury won the men’s high jump gold medal.

The Fosbury Flop

Fosbury was far from even an averagely gifted athlete. In fact, he even failed to meet high school qualifying marks in the sport during his early days.

The Portland resident, who graduated as a civil engineer later in his life, however, was good at academics and utilised his knowhow of mechanics to pioneer a new technique, which helped him become the Olympic champion.

Fosbury’s technique began with a diagonal sprint towards the bar before curving away from the upright and jumping backwards over the crossbar. The method enabled him to attain a much lower centre of mass during the flight than other popular techniques of the era, and in the process, increased the maximum height he could clear with his jumps.

The technique later came to be known as the Fosbury Flop and is the go-to for almost all modern competitive high jumpers. The Fosbury Flop, however, has been polished over the years by various athletes.