The world record for the men’s high jump was first ratified by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1912 and the current record – which, at the time of writing, has stood for nearly 30 years – still belongs to Cuban Javier Sotomayor Sanabria. Sotomayor first set a world record on September 8, 1988, just days before the Seoul Olympics, which were boycotted by his country. At the Helmantico Stadium in Salamanca, Spain, he cleared 2.43 metres at the second attempt, thereby beating the previous world record by one centimetre.
Less than a year later, at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Championships at Estadio Sixto Escobar in San Juan, Puerto Rico on July 29, 1989, Sotomayor added another centimetre to his own world record, clearing 2.44 metres, again at the second attempt. Lo and behold, four years later, almost to the day – July 27, 1993, to be precise – he did so again, clearing 2.35 metres, again at the second attempt, to set the current world record.
In between times, Sotomayor won a gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona with a height of ‘just’ 2.34 metres. In fact, five jumpers, including the former world record holder Patrik Sjöberg of Sweden, who won the silver medal, cleared the winning height, but the Cuban was the only won to do so at the first attempt.
At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Sotomayor qualified for the final but, after clearing 2.25 metres at the first attempt, failed three times at 2.32 metres and finished only twelfth behind American Charles Austin, who won the gold medal with a new Olympic record of 2.39 metres. However, four years later, at the age of 32, he won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, with a height of 2.32 metres.