Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's high jump

This was the 23rd appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1992 Games were gold medalist Javier Sotomayor of Cuba, bronze medalists Artur Partyka of Poland and Tim Forsyth of Australia, seventh-place finisher Troy Kemp of the Bahamas, eighth-place finishers Charles Austin of the United States and Dragutin Topić of Yugoslavia (an Independent Olympic Participant in 1992), and twelfth-place finisher Steve Smith of Great Britain. Sotomayor had broken his own world record in 1993, jumping 2.45 metres for a mark that is still standing as of 2023; however, he was suffering from an ankle injury in Atlanta. Austin, by contrast, had recovered from injuries that had limited him. Kemp was the reigning world champion, while Partyka had placed in the top three at worlds in both 1993 and 1995.{{cite web |url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/64801 |work=Olympedia |title=High Jump, Men |access-date=17 September 2020}}

Colombia, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Malaysia, and Ukraine each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 22nd appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

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 2.10 metres, 2.15 metres, 2.20 metres, 2.24 metres, 2.26 metres, and 2.29 metres. All jumpers clearing 2.29 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 2.15 metres, 2.20 metres, 2.25 metres, 2.29 metres, 2.32 metres, 2.35 metres, 2.37 metres, 2.39 metres, and 2.41 metres; the winner also took attempts at 2.46 metres to try to break the world record.Official Report, vol. 3, p. 88.

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.

{{World Olympic Record

| world_athlete = {{flagathlete|Javier Sotomayor|CUB}}

| world_mark = 2.45

| world_place = Salamanca, Spain

| world_date = 27 July 1993

| olympic_athlete = {{flagIOCathlete|Hennadiy Avdyeyenko|URS|1988 Summer}}

| olympic_mark = 2.38

| olympic_place = Seoul, South Korea

| olympic_date = 25 September 1988

}}

Charles Austin set a new Olympic record with 2.39 metres.

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

{{Olympic high jump key}}

Qualification: Qualifying Performance 2.28 (Q) or at least 12 best performers (q) advance to the final.

• 1994 Men's European Championships (Helsinki)
• 1995 Men's World Championships (Gothenburg)
• 1997 Men's World Championships (Athens)
• 1998 Men's European Championships (Budapest)

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070503054122/http://www.olympic-museum.de/o-reports/report1996.htm Official Report]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927235936/http://todor66.com/olim/1996/Athletics/Men_High_Jump.html Results]

{{OlympicsHighJump}}

{{Footer Olympic Champions High Jump Men}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Men's high jump}}

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Category:High jump at the Olympics

Category:Men's events at the 1996 Summer Olympics