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Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's high jump

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Men's high jump
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Olympic Park Stadium (2008)
VenueOlympic Park Stadium
Date23 November
Competitors28 from 19 nations
Winning height2.12 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Charles Dumas
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Chilla Porter
 Australia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Igor Kashkarov
 Soviet Union
← 1952
1960 →
Video on YouTube Official Video @44:10

The men's high jump was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Twenty-eight contestants from 19 nations met on the morning of the first day of the athletic contests, on Friday November 23, 1956, and 22 cleared the qualifying height of 1.92 metres, to meet again in the afternoon.[1][2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Charles Dumas of the United States, the nation's second consecutive and 11th overall victory in the men's high jump. Chilla Porter's silver was Australia's second medal in the event (after a gold in 1948). Igor Kashkarov's bronze was the Soviet Union's first.

Summary

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Charles Dumas, Chilla Porter and Igor Kashkarov cleared 2.06 metres on their first attempts. Stig Pettersson cleared it on his third. Dumas was in third place after a miss at 2.03m. At 2.08m, Dumas and Kashkarov cleared on their first attempt, while Porter dropped to third place by making it on his second. Pettersson did not clear the height. Dumas held the lead with a second attempt clearance of 2.10m while Porter made it on his last attempt. Kashkarov did not clear it and earned bronze. On his final attempt, Dumas set the final new Olympic record with 2.12 metres, while Porter couldn't clear that height and won silver.[1]

Background

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This was the 13th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1952 Games were bronze medalist José da Conceição of Brazil and eleventh-place finisher Peter Wells of Great Britain. Charles Dumas was the favorite, having broken the 7-foot mark at the U.S. trials with a 2.15 metres world record. Sweden's Bengt Nilsson was the 1954 European champion and the only non-American considered a contender for gold, but he "was injured shortly before leaving for Melbourne."[3]

Jamaica, Kenya, and Uganda each made their debut in the event. The United States appeared for the 13th time, having competed at each edition of the Olympic men's high jump to that point.

Competition format

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The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1912. There were two distinct rounds of jumping with results cleared between rounds. The qualifying round had the bar set at 1.70 metres, 1.78 metres, 1.82 metres, 1.88 metres, and 1.92 metres. All jumpers clearing 1.92 metres in the qualifying round advanced to the final. The final had jumps at 1.80 metres, 1.86 metres, 1.92 metres, 1.96 metres, 2.00 metres, 2.03 metres, 2.06 metres, and then increased by 0.02 metres until a winner was found. Each athlete had three attempts at each height.[3][4]

Records

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The world and Olympic records (in metres) prior to the 1956 Summer Olympics:

World record  Charles Dumas (USA) 2.15 Los Angeles, United States 29 June 1956
Olympic record  Walt Davis (USA) 2.04 Helsinki, Finland 20 July 1952

The existing Olympic record was equaled or bettered ten times by four men over the course of the 5 hour long competition. Charles Dumas finished with the new Olympic record at 2.12 metres.[5]

Schedule

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All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Friday, 23 November 1956 10:00
14:30
Qualifying
Final

Results

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Key

  • o = Height cleared
  • x = Height failed
  • = Height passed
  • r  = Retired
  • SB = Season's best
  • PB = Personal best
  • NR = National record
  • AR = Area record
  • OR = Olympic record
  • WR = World record
  • WL = World lead
  • NM = No mark
  • DNS = Did not start
  • DQ = Disqualified

Qualifying

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Okamona and Vernon retired due to injuries.

Rank Athlete Nation 1.70 1.78 1.82 1.88 1.92 Height Notes
1 Igor Kashkarov  Soviet Union o 1.92 Q
Volodymyr Sitkin  Soviet Union o 1.92 Q
3 Maurice Fournier  France o o 1.92 Q
4 Julius Chigbolu  Nigeria o o o 1.92 Q
Charles Dumas  United States o o o 1.92 Q
Chilla Porter  Australia o o o 1.92 Q
7 Patrick Etolu  Uganda o o o o 1.92 Q
Stig Pettersson  Sweden o o o o 1.92 Q
Phil Reavis  United States o o o o 1.92 Q
Peter Wells  Great Britain o o o o 1.92 Q
Vern Wilson  United States o o o o 1.92 Q
Yang Chuan-kwang  Republic of China o o o o 1.92 Q
13 Yukio Ishikawa  Japan o o o o o 1.92 Q
Joseph Leresae  Kenya o o o o o 1.92 Q
Ajit Singh Balla  India o o o o o 1.92 Q
16 Colin Ridgway  Australia o xo o 1.92 Q
17 Ken Money  Canada xo o o o 1.92 Q
18 José da Conceição  Brazil o xo o o o 1.92 Q
19 Ernle Haisley  Jamaica o xxo o 1.92 Q
20 Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam  Ceylon o o o xo 1.92 Q
21 Ciriaco Baronda  Philippines o o o o xo 1.92 Q
22 Vincent Gabriel  Nigeria o xxo xo 1.92 Q
23 Gianmario Roveraro  Italy o o o xxx 1.88
24 John Vernon  Australia o o o DNF 1.82
Maridjo Wirjodemedjo  Indonesia o o o xxx 1.82
26 Bengt Nilsson  Sweden xo xo xo xxx 1.82
27 I Gusti Putu Oka Mona  Indonesia o xxo DNF 1.82
Vladimir Polyakov  Soviet Union xxx No mark

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation 1.80 1.86 1.92 1.96 2.00 2.03 2.06 2.08 2.10 2.12 2.14 Height Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Charles Dumas  United States o o o o xo o xo xxo xx- 2.12 OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Chilla Porter  Australia o o o o o o xo xxo xxx 2.10
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Igor Kashkarov  Soviet Union o o o o o o xxx 2.08
4 Stig Pettersson  Sweden o o o o xxo xxx 2.06
5 Ken Money  Canada o o o o o xo xxx 2.03
6 Volodymyr Sitkin  Soviet Union o o o xxx 2.00
7 Phil Reavis  United States o o o o xxx 2.00
Colin Ridgway  Australia o o o o xxx 2.00
9 Julius Chigbolu  Nigeria xo xxo xo o xxx 2.00
10 Vern Wilson  United States o o o xo xxx 2.00
11 Maurice Fournier  France o o xxx 1.96
12 Patrick Etolu  Uganda o o o xxx 1.96
Yukio Ishikawa  Japan o o o xxx 1.96
14 Ajit Singh Balla  India o o o o xxx 1.96
15 Ernle Haisley  Jamaica o o o xo xxx 1.96
16 Peter Wells  Great Britain o o xo xo xxx 1.96
17 Ciriaco Baronda  Philippines o xo xxx 1.92
18 Joseph Leresae  Kenya o o xo xxx 1.92
19 Vincent Gabriel  Nigeria o o xxo xxx 1.92
20 Yang Chuan-kwang  Republic of China o xxx 1.86
21 José da Conceição  Brazil o o xxx 1.86
Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam  Ceylon o o xxx 1.86

References

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  1. ^ a b "Athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's High Jump". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  2. ^ "Melbourne 1956 high jump men Results - Olympic athletics".
  3. ^ a b "High Jump, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  4. ^ Official Report, p. 326.
  5. ^ "High jump M - Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne - Results".
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