The 5 Greatest High Jumpers of All-Time
The Top 5 Best High Jumpers in History
High jumping is a sport that never fails to captivate and entertain, with awe-inspiring movements and astonishing moments.
But who are the greatest high jumpers of all-time? Read on to find out!
Legendary high jumper Patrik Sjöberg in action!
The longstanding motto of the Olympic Games has always been "Higher, Faster, Stronger," and, for the 2020 Olympics, the Games added: "Together."
It was during the 2020 Games that two amazing high jump athletes, Mutaz Essa Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi, exemplified the essence of this motto by showcasing remarkable sportsmanship and sharing the gold medal.
A Brief History of High Jumping
High jumping first emerged on the sports scene in 1896, when the sport was incorporated into the first modern Olympic Games.
It immediately managed to captivate the attention of millions of people across the globe - and for good reason!
The fascinating history of high jumping adds another dimension to this sport, furthering the interest of its dedicated followers.
Legends of this sport have managed to break the boundaries of what humans are capable of achieving - and these athletes continue to evolve and improve themselves to alter the course of the game.
Looking back, or watching a few championships chronologically, you can easily spot the remarkable evolution of the sport, including how it has changed throughout the years.
These various iterations are at the heart of high jumping - and they are largely owed to the relentless pursuit of progress and improvement by the incredible athletes who are wholeheartedly committed to the sport.
But who are the greatest high jumpers of all-time? And how have they altered the course of the sport?
Let’s take a look at the top 5 greatest high jumpers of all-time!
1. Javier Sotomayor: The GOAT
Career Highlight Stats
Total of 12 gold medals, four silver medals and two bronze medals
Two Olympic Games medals
17 of the top 20 jumps of all-time
Holding the world record since 1993, Cuba’s Javier Sotomayor is considered the greatest high-jumper of all-time!
Beginning of the Journey
Javier Sotomayor's journey in high jumping began when he was enrolled in a Cuban sports school as a tall prospect for basketball.
However, due to his height and athletics, he was redirected towards the high jump at the age of 14.
Demonstrating remarkable potential, he effortlessly cleared the two-metre mark, displaying his natural talent.
With dedication and rapid progress, he swiftly ascended the ranks, achieving the impressive feat of being ranked No. 5 globally by the time he reached the age of 19.
Professional Achievements
Ever since then, Javier Sotomayor has established an enduring legacy of dominance in the sport, emerging as an unstoppable force.
He has won a total of 12 gold medals, four silver medals and two bronze medals in major competitions.
This includes:
Two Olympic Games medals (one gold and one silver)
Four World Championships medals (two gold and two silver)
Six IAAF World Indoor Championships medals (four gold, one silver and one bronze)
Pan American Games medals
CAC Championships medals
Goodwill Games medals
Yet, this is just the tip of the iceberg! Javier broke the first world record in the 1988 Summer Olympics when he set a world record of 2.43m (7 ft 11+1⁄2 in).
Then in the following years, he increased the world record to 2.44m (8 ft 0 in) on 29 July 1989, in the Central American and Caribbean Championships, held in San Juan, and to the current record of 2.45m (8 ft 1⁄4 in) in Salamanca on 27 July 1993.
The record he set in 1989 was a historic jump for Imperial-measure fans, as that was the first jump over 8 feet.
Javier Sotomayor forever changed the sport of high jumping by setting the current world record of 2.45 metres (8 ft 1⁄4 in), which makes him the only person ever to have cleared eight feet (2.44 metres).
His record-breaking jump in Salamanca on July 27, 1993, was a historic achievement.
He also introduced a unique, galloping approach with two elongated strides in the middle of his 14-step run and a powerful left-leg take-off, which became his trademark style.
His dominance in the high jumping world is incredible, to say the least; at the time he retired, he had 17 of the top 20 jumps of all-time.
Only 13 men in history have jumped 2.40 metres or higher, and only five have done it more than once.
Sotomayor did it 24 times (in 21 different competitions between September 1988 – March 1995), and he is still the only person to have cleared 2.44m (8 ft 0 in) (which he did twice).
But his career wasn’t without scandal; unfortunately, he was unable to participate in a few Olympic Games during Cuba’s boycott. He also received two positive drug tests during his career.
The first occurred at the 1999 Pan American Games, where he tested positive for cocaine.
Sotomayor maintained his innocence, and after a lengthy appeal process, his two-year ban was reduced to one year, allowing him to compete in the 2000 Summer Olympics.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) cited Sotomayor's contributions to the sport, his clean record in previous drug tests, and exemplary behaviour as reasons for the shortened suspension.
However, in September 2001, Sotomayor announced his retirement following another positive drug test for the anabolic steroid nandrolone, although he claimed innocence again and attributed his retirement to an Achilles tendon injury.
2. Mutaz Essa Barshim: The Current World Champion
Career Highlight Stats
Current World Champion
16 gold medals and four silver medals
He won a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Mutaz Essa Barshim is the current World Champion and second-highest jumper of all-time with an impressive personal best score of 2.43m.
Beginning of the Journey
Following in his father’s footsteps, who was also a track and field athlete, Barshim found himself going along to club training and practising this sport, before he eventually ended up at the Aspire Academy in Doha.
He graduated with a personal best score of 2.14m.
Then he started training with his new coach - Stanisław "Stanley" Szczyrba.
The very next year, he started building his international career. He set an indoor Qatari record in Gothenburg in early February with a jump of 2.25m.
Professional Achievements
Shortly after his first win, Barshim went on to take the gold medal at the 2010 Asian Indoor Athletics Championships, winning with a clearance of 2.20m.
After this win, he was selected to represent Qatar at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Doha and his performance of 2.23m left him in 14th place in the qualifying round.
In the following 12 years, Barshim went on to win several championships, improving his record continuously.
So far, Mutaz Essa Barshim has won:
16 gold medals
Four silver medals
One bronze medal
He competed in various championships, including:
Asian Indoor Championships
World (Indoor) Championships
Olympic Games
Asian Championships
Pan-Arab Games
Asian Athletics Championships
He continues to work hard and improve his skills, and he has achieved big at the Olympics too!
Barshim’s Olympic achievements include:
Bronze at the London 2012 Summer Olympics
Silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics
Gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
With these scores, he joined Patrik Sjöberg as the only high jumper in Olympic history to win three Olympic medals, although Sjöberg never won gold.
Barshim holds the Asian record for the high jump, as well as the record for the second-best jump of all-time with a personal best of 2.43m.
3. Patrik Sjöberg
Career Highlight Stats
He started high jumping at 10 years old
Three Olympic medals
Considered the best European high jumper ever
Easy to spot with his luscious golden locks, Patrik Sjöberg is another high-jumping legend that has earned his rightful spot on our list!
He has several achievements, including tying for the third-best men’s high jump mark of 2.42m.
Beginning of the journey
Patrik Sjöberg got into high jumping at a young age – specifically 10 years old when he was curious about the sport and joined a club.
He then went to the Olympics at the age of 19 where he first won his silver medal in 1984.
Professional Achievements
Patrik Sjöberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest high jumpers in history for several reasons.
He set up a few world records, including:
World record highest jump of 2.42m - this was broken 15 months later by Javier Sotomayor)
Record for three Olympic medals - for some time he was the only high jumper to have won medals in more than two Olympic Games before Barshim joined him with his three wins
Sjöberg is still considered the best European high jumper and third-world all-time greatest high jumper
He won three medals from the Olympics, two silver in 1984 and 1992 and one bronze in 1988. He was also a World Champion back in 1987 when he first set up the world record and his personal best of 2.41m.
He won gold in the European Indoor Championships four times, and one of each medal (gold, silver and bronze) at the World Indoor Championships.
For these achievements among many others, he received the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1985.
After retiring from his professional career in high jumping, Sjöberg in his 2011 autobiography revealed that he had been sexually molested as a child by his coach Viljo Nousiainen, who was a prominent Swedish athletics coach.
This traumatic experience is the reason why he devoted himself to helping survivors of child sexual abuse and co-founded the website Dumpen.se. On this site, he exposes paedophiles and child groomers to make the world a better place.
4. Bohdan Viktorovych Bondarenko
Career Highlight Stats
Tied for the third-best men’s high jump mark at 2.42m
He won the bronze medal at the 2006 World Junior Championship
He won the silver medal at the Beijing World Championship
Tied with Sjöberg for the third-best men’s high jump mark at 2.42m is Bohdan Bondarenko, who is also an Olympic Bronze medalist as well as a world champion.
Beginning of the Journey
The Ukrainian super-star high jumper Bondarenko was trained and coached by his father Viktor Bondarenko, for whom he has said: "I have always understood him and he has always understood me.
Many sportsmen cannot be coached by their parents, but for me, he has been very good." (From his 2016 interview with IAAF).
They had this wholesome moment when in 2013, Bohdan won the European Athlete of the Year trophy and his father received a trainer's award from the European Athletics Association.
Professional Achievements
Bohdan started his records back in 2006 when he won the bronze medal at the 2006 World Junior Championships and became the World Junior Champion in 2008.
Nonetheless, Bondarenko's breakthrough came in 2013 when he set a new personal best of 2.41 metres, the highest jump since 1994, and he broke the Ukrainian national record.
He went on to win the gold medal at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow and was named the European Athlete of the Year.
Two years later, in 2015 he came second at the world scene, winning the silver medal at the Beijing World Championship.
More so, he has also secured victories in multiple Diamond League competitions and he claimed the gold medal at the 2014 European Championships as well as the 2014 Continental Cup.
In 2016, he won his bronze Olympic Medal.
5. Igor Paklin
Career Highlight Stats
Fifth-best men’s high jump mark at 2.41m
He won a gold medal at the 1987 World Indoor Championships
The first high jumper to use the Fosbury Flop style
Last but not least, Igor Paklin is one of the greatest high jumpers of all-time. He holds the record for the fifth-best men’s high jump mark at 2.41m.
Beginning of the Journey
Currently retired, Igor Vasilyevich Paklin is a Kyrgyz athlete who was trained by the Armed Forces sports society in Frunze.
He went on to represent both the USSR and later Kyrgyzstan in international competitions.
Professional Achievements
Paklin had an amazing high jumping career representing two countries and winning medals at championships for both of them.
His remarkable achievements include:
Gold medal at the 1987 World Indoor Championships (USSR)
Silver medal at the 1987 World Championships (USSR)
He also held the world record in high jumping with a leap of 2.41 metres (7.9 feet) from 1985 to June 1987, only to have his record surpassed by Patrik Sjöberg by just one centimetre.
Nonetheless, with his jump of 2.41 metres, Paklin ranks as the fifth-highest jumper in the history of the sport.
He was also the first high jumper to use the Fosbury Flop style, jumping off his right leg which became his go-to technique.
Nowadays, this technique is used by almost every modern high jumper in the world.
Unfortunately, unlike the other names on our list, Paklin’s story has a bad turn, as in 1996, he was arrested and imprisoned for beating a business partner to death.
Who Are the Greatest High Jumpers of All-Time?
These top 5 high jumpers have left an indelible mark on the sport with their exceptional skills and remarkable achievements.
Each high jumper has soared to new heights, both literally and figuratively, captivating audiences worldwide.
Their grace, athleticism and unwavering determination have propelled them to the top of high jump history.
With their impressive records and countless medals, they have cemented their positions as legends in the sport, inspiring future generations to reach for the sky.
