Прыжки в высоту: история, техника и рекорды

Track and field event

The 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. In its modern, most practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat for landing. Since ancient times, competitors have introduced increasingly effective techniques to arrive at the current form, and the current universally preferred method is the Fosbury Flop, in which athletes run towards the bar and leap head first with their back to the bar. The discipline is, alongside the pole vault, one of two vertical clearance events in the Olympic athletics program. It is contested at the World Championships in Athletics and the World Athletics Indoor Championships, and is a common occurrence at track and field meets. The high jump was among the first events deemed acceptable for women, having been held at the 1928 Olympic Games. Javier Sotomayor (Cuba) is the current world record holder with a jump of set in 1993 – the longest standing record in the history of the men's high jump. Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria) has held the women's world record of since 1987, also the longest held record in the event.

The rules set for the high jump by World Athletics (previously named the IAAF (previously Rules 181 and 182 This rule led to shared gold in the 2020 Olympic men's event held in 2021.

The first recorded high jump event took place in Scotland in the 19th century. Early jumpers used either an elaborate straight on approach or a scissors technique. In later years, the bar was approached diagonally, and the jumper threw first the inside leg and then the other over the bar in a scissoring motion. Around the turn of the 20th century, techniques began to change, beginning with the Irish American Michael Sweeney's Eastern cut off as a variation of the scissors technique. By taking off as in the scissors method, extending his spine and flattening out over the bar, Sweeney raised the world record to in 1895. Even in 1948, John Winter of Australia won the gold medal of the 1948 London Olympics with this style. Besides, one of the most successful female high jumper, Iolanda Balaș of Romania, used this style to dominate women's high jump for about 10 years until her retirement at 1967. Another American, George Horine, developed an even more efficient technique, the Western roll. In this style, the bar again is approached on a diagonal, but the inner leg is used for the take off, while the outer leg is thrust up to lead the body sideways over the bar. Horine increased the world standard to in 1912. His technique was predominant through the 1936 Berlin Olympics, in which the event was won by Cornelius Johnson at
American and Soviet jumpers were the most successful for the next four decades, and they pioneered the straddle technique. Straddle jumpers took off as in the Western roll but rotated their torso, belly down, around the bar, obtaining the most efficient and highest clearance up to that time. Straddle jumper Charles Dumas was the first to clear 7 ft (2.13m), in 1956. American John Thomas pushed the world mark to in 1960. Valeriy Brumel of the Soviet Union took over the event for the next four years, radically speeding up his approach run. He took the record up to and won the gold medal of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, before a motorcycle accident ended his career in 1965. American coaches, including two time NCAA champion Frank Costello of the University of Maryland, flocked to Russia to learn from Brumel and his coaches like Vladimir Dyachkov. However, it would be a solitary innovator at Oregon State University, Dick Fosbury, who would bring the high jump into the next century. Taking advantage of the raised, softer, artificially cushioned landing areas that were in use by then, Fosbury added a new twist to the outmoded Eastern cut off. He directed himself over the bar head and shoulders first, going over on his back and landing in a fashion that would likely have resulted in serious injury in the old ground level landing pits, which were usually filled with sawdust or sand mixtures. Around the same time, Debbie Brill independently came up with the same technique, which she called the 'Brill Bend'. Since Fosbury used his new style, called the Fosbury flop, to win the gold medal of the 1968 Mexico Olympics, its use spread quickly, and soon "floppers" were dominating international high jump competitions. The first flopper setting a world record was the American Dwight Stones, who cleared in 1973. In the female side, the 16 year old flopper Ulrike Meyfarth from West Germany won the gold medal of the 1972 Munich Olympics at , which tied the women's world record at that time (held by the Austrian straddler Ilona Gusenbauer a year before). However, it was not until 1978 when a flopper, Sara Simeoni of Italy, broke the women's world record. Successful high jumpers following Fosbury's lead also included the rival of Dwight Stones, 5 feet (2 m) tall Franklin Jacobs of Paterson, New Jersey, who cleared , over his head (a feat equalled 27 years later by Stefan Holm of Sweden); Chinese record setters Ni chi Chin and Zhu Jianhua; Germans Gerd Wessig and Dietmar Mögenburg; Swedish Olympic medalist and former world record holder Patrik Sjöberg; female jumpers Ulrike Meyfarth of West Germany and Sara Simeoni of Italy. In spite of this, the straddle technique did not disappear at once. In 1977, the 18 year old Soviet straddler Vladimir Yashchenko set a new world record In 1978, he raised the record to , and indoor, just before a knee injury effectively ended his career when he was only 20 years old. In the female side, the straddler Rosemarie Ackermann of East Germany, who was the first female jumper ever to clear , raised the world record from to during 1974 to 1977. In fact, from 2 June 1977 to 3 August 1978, almost 10 years after Fosbury's success, the men's and women's world records were still held by straddle jumpers Yashchenko and Ackermann respectively. However, they were the last world record holders using the straddle technique. Ackermann also won the gold medal of the 1976 Montreal Olympics, which was the last time for a straddle jumper (male or female) to win an Olympic medal. In 1980, the Polish flopper, 1976 Olympic gold medalist Jacek Wszoła, broke Yashchenko's world record at Two years before, the female Italian flopper Sara Simeoni, the long term rival of Ackermann, broke Ackermann's world record at and became the first female flopper to break the women's world record. She also won the gold medal of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, where Ackermann placed fourth. Since then, the flop style has been completely dominant. All other techniques were almost extinct in serious high jump competitions after late 1980s.

Technique and form have evolved greatly over the history of high jump. The Fosbury Flop is currently considered the most efficient way for competitors to propel themselves over the bar.

For a Fosbury Flop, depending on the athlete's jump foot, they start on the right or left of the high jump mat, placing their jump foot farthest away from the mat. They take an eight to ten step approach, with the first three to five steps being in a straight line and the last five being on a curve. Athletes generally mark their approach in order to find as much consistency as possible. The approach run can be more important than the takeoff. If a high jumper runs with bad timing or without enough aggression, clearing the bar becomes more of a challenge. The approach requires a certain shape or curve, the right amount of speed, and the correct number of strides. The approach angle is also critical for optimal height. The straight run builds the momentum and sets the tone for a jump. The athlete starts by pushing off their takeoff foot with slow, powerful steps, then begins to accelerate. They should be running upright by the end of the straight portion. The athlete's takeoff foot will be landing on the first step of the curve, and they will continue to accelerate, focusing their body towards the opposite back corner of the high jump mat. While staying erect and leaning away from the mat, the athlete takes their final two steps flat footed, rolling from the heel to the toe. Most great straddle jumpers run at angles of about 30 to 40 degrees. The length of the run is determined by the speed of the approach. A slower run requires about eight strides, but a faster high jumper might need about 13 strides. Greater speed allows a greater part of the body's forward momentum to be converted upward. The J approach favored by Fosbury floppers allows for speed, the ability to turn in the air (centripetal force), and a good takeoff position, which helps turn horizontal momentum into vertical momentum. The approach should be a hard, controlled stride so that the athlete does not fall from running at an angle. Athletes should lean into the curve from their ankles, not their hips. This allows their hips to rotate during takeoff, which in turn allows their center of gravity to pass under the bar.

The takeoff can be double arm or single arm. In both cases, the plant foot should be the foot farthest from the bar, angled towards the opposite back corner of the mat, as they drive up the knee on their non takeoff leg. This is accompanied by a one or two arm swing while driving the knee. Unlike the straddle technique, where the takeoff foot is "planted" in the same spot regardless of the height of the bar, flop style jumpers must adjust their approach run as the bar is raised so that their takeoff spot is slightly farther out from the bar. Jumpers attempting to reach record heights commonly fail when most of their energy is directed into the vertical effort and they knock the bar off the standards with the backs of their legs as they stall. An effective approach shape can be derived from physics. For example, the rate of backward spin required as the jumper crosses the bar in order to facilitate shoulder clearance on the way up and foot clearance on the way down can be determined by computer simulation. This rotation rate can be back calculated to determine the required angle of lean away from the bar at the moment of planting, based on how long the jumper is on the takeoff foot. This information, together with the jumper's speed, can be used to calculate the radius of the curved part of the approach. One can also work in the opposite direction by assuming a certain approach radius and determining the resulting backward rotation. Drills can be practiced to solidify the approach. One drill is to run in a straight line and then run two to three circles spiraling into one another. Another is to run or skip a circle of any size two to three times in a row. It is important to leap upwards without first leaning into the bar, allowing the momentum of the J approach to carry the body across the bar.

The knee on the athlete's non takeoff leg naturally turns their body, placing them in the air with their back to the bar. The athlete then drives their shoulders towards the back of their feet, arching their body over the bar. They can look over their shoulder to judge when to kick both feet over their head, causing their body to clear the bar and land on the mat.

as of 2023.

Ath.# (Athlete rank) Perf.# (Performance rank) Mark Athlete Nation Date Place 1 1 Javier Sotomayor 27 July 1993 Salamanca 2 Sotomayor #2 29 July 1989 San Juan 3 Sotomayor #3 8 September 1988 Salamanca 2 3 Mutaz Essa Barshim 5 September 2014 Brussels 3 5 Patrik Sjöberg 30 June 1987 Stockholm 5 Sotomayor #4 5 June 1994 Seville 3 5 Bohdan Bondarenko 14 June 2014 New York City 5 Barshim #2 14 June 2014 New York City 17 Bondarenko #6 18 July 2014 Monaco Bondarenko #7 5 September 2014 Brussels 16 Hennadiy Avdyeyenko 6 September 1987 Rome Sergey Malchenko 4 September 1988 Banská Bystrica Dragutin Topić 1 August 1993 Belgrade Troy Kemp 12 July 1995 Nice Artur Partyka 18 August 1996 Eberstadt Jacques Freitag 5 March 2005 Oudtshoorn Andriy Sokolovskyy 8 July 2005 Rome Andrey Silnov 25 July 2008 London Zhang Guowei 30 May 2015 Eugene Danil Lysenko 27 August 2017 Eberstadt

Ath.# (Athlete rank) Perf.# (Performance rank) Mark Athlete Nation Date Place 1 1 Stefka Kostadinova 30 August 1987 Rome 2 Kostadinova #2 31 May 1986 Sofia 2 2 Blanka Vlašić 31 August 2009 Zagreb 3 4 Lyudmila Andonova 20 July 1984 Berlin 4 Kostadinova #3 25 May 1986 Sofia Kostadinova #4 16 September 1987 Cagliari Kostadinova #5 3 September 1988 Sofia Vlašić #2 7 August 2007 Stockholm 3 4 Anna Chicherova 22 July 2011 Cheboksary 10 Kostadinova #6 18 August 1985 Moscow Kostadinova #7 15 June 1986 Fürth Kostadinova #8 14 September 1986 Cagliari Kostadinova #9 6 June 1987 Worrstadt Kostadinova #10 8 September 1987 Rieti 5 10 Kajsa Bergqvist 26 July 2003 Eberstadt Hestrie Cloete 31 August 2003 Paris Yelena Slesarenko 28 August 2004 Athens 10 Vlašić #3 30 July 2007 Thessaloniki Vlašić #4 22 June 2008 Istanbul Vlašić #5 5 July 2008 Madrid 5 10 Ariane Friedrich 14 June 2009 Berlin Mariya Lasitskene 6 July 2017 Lausanne 10 Lasitskene #2 20 June 2019 Ostrava 10 24 Tamara Bykova 22 June 1984 Kyiv 24 Kostadinova #11 14 June 1986 Worrstadt Kostadinova #12 7 September 1986 Rieti Kostadinova #13 4 July 1987 Oslo Kostadinova #14 13 September 1987 Padova Kostadinova #15 12 August 1988 Budapest 10 24 Heike Henkel 31 August 1991 Tokyo 24 Kostadinova #16 4 July 1992 San Marino Kostadinova #17 18 September 1993 Fukuoka 10 24 Inha Babakova 15 September 1995 Tokyo 24 Kostadinova #18 3 August 1996 Atlanta Bergqvist #2 18 August 2002 Poznan Cloete #2 10 August 2003 Berlin Bergqvist #3 28 July 2006 London Vlašić #6 21 July 2007 Madrid Vlašić #7 2 September 2007 Osaka Vlašić #8 12 June 2008 Ostrava Vlašić #9 1 July 2008 Bydgoszcz 10 24 Tia Hellebaut 23 August 2008 Beijing 24 Vlašić #10 23 August 2008 Beijing Vlašić #11 8 May 2009 Doha 10 24 Chaunté Lowe 26 June 2010 Des Moines 24 Vlašić #12 5 September 2010 Split Chicherova #2 16 September 2011 Brussels Chicherova #3 11 August 2012 London Lasitskene #3 21 July 2017 Monaco Lasitskene #4 8 September 2021 Zürich 1024 Yaroslava Mahuchikh 2 September 2022 Brussels 16 Silvia Costa 9 September 1989 Barcelona Venelina Veneva Mateeva 2 June 2001 Kalamata Irina Gordeeva 19 August 2012 Eberstadt Brigetta Barrett 22 June 2013 Des Moines 20 Ulrike Meyfarth 21 August 1983 London Louise Ritter 8 July 1988 Austin Tatyana Motkova 30 May 1995 Bratislava Niki Bakoyianni 3 August 1996 Atlanta Antonietta Di Martino 24 June 2007 Milan Nicola Olyslagers 17 September 2023 Eugene