Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's high jump

Men's high jump at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Venue	Estadio Olímpico Universitario
Dates	October 19–20
Medalists
Dick Fosbury  United States Ed Caruthers  United States Valentin Gavrilov  Soviet Union

Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m		men		women
200 m		men		women
400 m		men		women
800 m		men		women
1500 m		men
5000 m		men
10,000 m		men
80 m hurdles				women
110 m hurdles		men
400 m hurdles		men
3000 m steeplechase		men
4×100 m relay		men		women
4×400 m relay		men
Road events
Marathon		men
20 km walk		men
50 km walk		men
Field events
Long jump		men		women
Triple jump		men
High jump		men		women
Pole vault		men
Shot put		men		women
Discus throw		men		women
Javelin throw		men		women
Hammer throw		men
Combined events
Pentathlon				women
Decathlon		men

The men's high jump was one of four men's jumping events on the Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics program in Mexico City. Dick Fosbury won by using a backward jumping style that was called the Fosbury Flop. This was the unveiling of the new style on the world stage. The style completely revolutionized the sport. By the mid 1970s and ever since, virtually all of the top competitors were using the new style.

At 2.18 high school phenom Reynaldo Brown and Valery Skvortsov topped out leaving the three medalists Valentin Gavrilov. Ed Caruthers and Fosbury. The medalists were all clean at 2.20. Fosbury took the lead by remaining clean at 2.22, Caruthers needing a second attempt. Garilov couldn't make it. Fosbury confirmed his win by making 2.24 on his last attempt, while Caruthers brushed his last attempt off.

Medalists

Gold	Dick Fosbury United States (USA)
Silver	Ed Caruthers United States (USA)
Bronze	Valentin Gavrilov USSR (USSR)

Records

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

World record	Valeriy Brumel (URS)	2.28 m	Moscow, Soviet Union	21 July 1963
Olympic record	Valeriy Brumel (URS)	2.18 m	Tokyo, Japan	21 October 1964

Results

Final

Held on October 20, 1968

Each jumper again had three attempts at each height, with the bar starting at 2.00 metres. Three jumpers were unable to perform as well as they had in the qualification.

Place	Athlete	Nation	Best mark		2.00	2.03	2.06	2.09	2.12	2.14	2.16	2.18	2.20	2.22	2.24	2.29
1	Dick Fosbury	United States	2.24 metres OR		-	O	-	O	-	O	-	O	O	O	XXO	XXX
2	Ed Caruthers	United States	2.22 metres		-	-	-	O	-	XXO	-	XXO	O	XO	XXX
3	Valentin Gavrilov	Soviet Union	2.20 metres		O	O	O	O	O	O	O	-	O	XXX
4	Valery Skvortsov	Soviet Union	2.16 metres		-	O	XO	O	XXO	O	XXO	XXX
5	Reynaldo Brown	United States	2.14 metres		-	O	-	O	-	O	-	XXX
6	Giacomo Crosa	Italy	2.14 metres		O	-	XO	O	O	O	XXX
7	Gunther Spielvogel	West Germany	2.14 metres		-	-	O	O	XXO	XO	XXX
8	Lawrie Peckham	Australia	2.12 metres		-	O	O	O	XO	XXX
9	Robert Sainte-Rose	France	2.09 metres		O	-	O	O	XXX
	Ingomar Sieghart	West Germany	2.09 metres		-	O	O	O	XXX
11	Luis María Garriga	23x15px Spain	2.09 metres		O	O	O	XXO	XXX
12	Ahmed Senoussi	Chad	2.09 metres		-	-	XO	XXO	XXX
13	Miodrag Todosijević	Yugoslavia	2.06 metres		O	-	O	XXX

References

• Sports Reference
• Official results p.86