High jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. It is one of two vertical clearance events in the Olympic athletics program and is contested at the World Championships in Athletics and the World Athletics Indoor Championships. The event demands speed, explosive power, and agility among other qualities. High jump contests were popular in Scotland in the early 19th century, and the event was incorporated into the first modern Olympics Games in 1896 for men. Women made their Olympic high jump debut in 1928.
The 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. The 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 a height and move on to the next one. If competitors are tied on the same height, the winner is the one with the fewest failures at that height. If competitors are still tied, the winner will have had the fewest failures across the entire competition. Thereafter, a jump-off will decide the winner. The jump-off will start at the next greater height. Each jumper has one attempt, and the bar is lowered and raised until one jumper succeeds at one height.
The high jump has undergone several changes in technique over the years. The Eastern Cut-off, Western Roll, and Straddle are methods that have been previously used by the world’s elite. However, the Fosbury Flop, which involves going over with the jumpers back to the bar, popularized by the 1968 Olympic champion Dick Fosbury, is now almost exclusively the technique adopted by all the top high jumpers.
In summary, high jump is a track and field event where competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. It requires speed, explosive power, and agility. The event starts with a chief judge setting a particular height to place the crossbar, and the height generally increases gradually to make it tougher for athletes. The high jump has undergone several changes in technique over the years, with the Fosbury Flop being the most popular technique adopted by all the top high jumpers.
