Athletics at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's high jump

The men's high jump field event at the 1960 Olympic Games took place on September 1.[1] Thirty-two 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 Robert Shavlakadze of the Soviet Union, the nation's first victory in the men's high jump. Valery Brumel took silver; both men surpassed the previous best placing for the Soviet team of bronze. American John Thomas took bronze to keep alive the United States' streak of medaling in every edition of the Olympic men's high jump.

Men's high jump
at the Games of the XVII Olympiad
Thomas, Shavlakadze, and Brumel
VenueOlympic Stadium
DateSeptember 1
Competitors32 from 23 nations
Winning height2.16 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Robert Shavlakadze
 Soviet Union
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Valery Brumel
 Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) John Thomas
 United States
← 1956
1964 →

Background

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This was the 14th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1956 Games were gold medalist Charles Dumas of the United States, silver medalist Chilla Porter of Australia, fourth-place finisher Stig Pettersson of Sweden, and eleventh-place finisher Maurice Fournier of France. The world record holder, and possibly the odds-on favourite in 1960, was John Thomas of the United States. Valery Brumel of the Soviet Union was considered his biggest challenger; Dumas and the other Soviet athletes (Robert Shavlakadze and Viktor Bolshov) were also outside contenders.[2]

Iraq and Tunisia each made their debut in the event; Germany appeared for the first time as the United Team of Germany. The United States appeared for the 14th time, having competed at each edition of the Olympic men's high jump to that point.

Competition format

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The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1912. There were two distinct rounds of jumping with results cleared between rounds. The qualifying round had the bar set at 1.90 metres, 1.95 metres, and 2.00 metres. All jumpers clearing 2.00 metres in the qualifying round advanced to the final. The final had jumps at 1.90 metres, 1.95 metres, 2.00 metres, 2.03 metres, 2.06 metres, 2.09 metres, 2.12 metres, and then increased by 0.02 metres until a winner was found. Each athlete had three attempts at each height.[2][3]

Records

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The world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1960 Summer Olympics:

World record   John Thomas (USA) 2.22 Palo Alto, United States 1 July 1960
Olympic record   Charles Dumas (USA) 2.12 Melbourne, Australia 23 November 1956

Each of the three Soviets matched the Olympic record of 2.12 metres: Valery Brumel, Robert Shavlakadze, and Viktor Bolshov. John Thomas skipped that height; he joined the three Soviets in all successfully breaking the Olympic record at 2.14 metres. Shavlakadze and Brumel were able to extend the new record further, to 2.16 metres, where it stood at the end of the 1960 Games.

Schedule

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All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Thursday, 1 September 1960 9:00
15:15
Qualifying
Final

Results

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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

All jumpers reaching 2.00 metres advanced to the finals. All heights are listed in metres.

Qualifying

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Rank Athlete Nation 1.90 1.95 2.00 Height Notes
1 John Thomas   United States o 2.00 Q
2 Viktor Bolshov   Soviet Union o o 2.00 Q
Stig Pettersson   Sweden o o 2.00 Q
4 Maurice Fournier   France o o o 2.00 Q
Robert Kotei   Ghana o o o 2.00 Q
Jiří Lanský   Czechoslovakia o o o 2.00 Q
Kjell-Åke Nilsson   Sweden o o o 2.00 Q
Sándor Noszály   Hungary o o o 2.00 Q
Cornel Porumb   Romania o o o 2.00 Q
Robert Shavlakadze   Soviet Union o o o 2.00 Q
11 Theo Püll   United Team of Germany xo o o 2.00 Q
12 Piotr Sobotta   Poland o xxo o 2.00 Q
13 Valery Brumel   Soviet Union o xo 2.00 Q
Gordon Miller   Great Britain o xo 2.00 Q
15 Charlie Dumas   United States o o xo 2.00 Q
Joe Faust   United States o o xo 2.00 Q
17 Mahamat Idriss   France o o xxo 2.00 Q
18 Kuniyoshi Sugioka   Japan o xxx 1.95
19 René Maurer   Switzerland o o xxx 1.95
Werner Pfeil   United Team of Germany o o xxx 1.95
Eero Salminen   Finland o o xxx 1.95
22 Helmut Donner   Austria xo o xxx 1.95
Jón Pétursson   Iceland xo o xxx 1.95
24 Crawford Fairbrother   Great Britain o xo xxx 1.95
Peter Riebensahm   United Team of Germany o xo xxx 1.95
26 Đorđe Majtan   Yugoslavia xxo xxx 1.95
27 Chilla Porter   Australia o xxo xxx 1.95
28 Samuel Igun   Nigeria o xxx 1.90
29 Gurbachan Singh Randhawa   India xxo xxx 1.90
Mohamed Abdul Razzak   Iraq xxx No mark
Sylvain Bitan   Tunisia xxx No mark
Çetin Şahiner   Turkey xxx No mark

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation 1.90 1.95 2.00 2.03 2.06 2.09 2.12 2.14 2.16 2.18 Mark Notes
  Robert Shavlakadze   Soviet Union xo o o o o o o xxx 2.16 OR
  Valery Brumel   Soviet Union o o o xo xxo xo xo xxx 2.16 OR
  John Thomas   United States o o o xo xxx 2.14
4 Viktor Bolshov   Soviet Union o o o o o xo xxx 2.14
5 Stig Pettersson   Sweden o o xxo xxo xxx 2.09
6 Charlie Dumas   United States o o xxx 2.03
7 Jiří Lanský   Czechoslovakia o o o o xxx 2.03
Kjell-Åke Nilsson   Sweden o o o o xxx 2.03
Theo Püll   United Team of Germany o o o o xxx 2.03
10 Robert Kotei   Ghana o o xo xxx 2.03
11 Cornel Porumb   Romania o o o xo xxx 2.03
12 Mahamat Idriss   France xo xo xo xxx 2.03
13 Sándor Noszály   Hungary o o xo xxo xxx 2.03
14 Maurice Fournier   France o o xxx 2.00
15 Piotr Sobotta   Poland o o o xxx 2.00
16 Gordon Miller   Great Britain o o xxo xxx 2.00
17 Joe Faust   United States o o xxx 1.95

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1960 Rome Summer Games: Men's High Jump". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "High Jump, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 132.